Stocks end higher after shaky day of trading

NEW YORK -- About halfway through first-quarter earnings reports, Wall Street is still uncertain about the economy.

The Dow Jones industrials are closing with a gain of about 70 points, or 0.9 percent, but only after another shaky, back-and-forth day of trading.

Some companies reported strong earnings on Thursday, including Apple Inc., eBay Inc. and PNC Financial Services Group. But other results -- like those from the shipper UPS Inc. and the steelmaker Nucor Corp. -- boded more trouble.

According to preliminary calculations, broader stock indicators are ending moderately higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 8 points, or 1 percent, at 852. The Nasdaq composite index is up 6 points, or 0.4 percent, at 1,652.