Stocks gained Thursday, with the major indexes hitting multi-month highs on J.P. Morgan Chase's better-than-expected quarterly results and anticipation about Google's profit report. In economic news, the U.S. government said housing starts fell nearly 11 percent in March, falling to the second-lowest level on record and indicating that the housing market has not yet reached bottom. Building permits—considered a gauge of builder confidence—fell to a record low. The government said in a second report that more than 6 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits, a record high, though the number of people applying for initial jobless claims fell unexpectedly last week. Light sweet crude for May delivery rose 73 cents to $49.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and fell versus the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.81, or 1.2 percent, to 8,125.43, a two-month high. J.P. Morgan Chase reported a higher-than-expected profit of $2.1 billion, though results were weaker than a year earlier. The bank said it benefited from strength in its investment and consumer banking divisions. Its shares rose slightly. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 13.24, or 1.55 percent, to 865.30, a two-month high. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 43.64, or 2.7 percent, to 1,670.44, a five-month high, on expectations of strong profits from Google. After the market close, the internet-search giant reported a bigger-than-expected 8 percent increase in first-quarter profit. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 69.29 to 5,454.27. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.89 to 1,413.11. And the Russell 2000 index rose 12.75 to 473.88.
