Stocks close higher as investors digest earnings

US Stocks have closed moderately higher after investors sorted through a mix of earnings numbers and awaited reports from Yahoo Inc and Apple Inc after the close.

Stocks fell early on disappointment over revenue at IBM, Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs, but drifted higher in afternoon trading.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 75, or 0.7%, to 10,229.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 12, or 1.1%, to 1,084. The Nasdaq composite index gained 24, or 1.1%, to 2,222.49.

Advancing stocks outpaced losers by four to one on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to a light 1.1 billion shares.