Technology brands such as IBM, eBay, and Qualcomm led the way up on Thursday. Stocks climbed on a slew of earnings reports and economic data. Crude oil tacked on $2.79 to settle at $92.66 a barrel. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales declined by 5.4% to 4.37 million annualized units in June. On another note, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims increased by 34,000 to 386,000 last week. The prior week’s numbers were revised from 350,000 to 352,000. Elsewhere, Google and Microsoft issued quarterly figures after the closing bell. Google said net income hit $2.79 billion, or $8.42 per share. Revenue climbed 21% to $8.36 billion. Microsoft reported a loss of $492 million, or 6 cents a share in the quarter. Revenue rose 4% to $18.06 billion.
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