Tech Earnings Ease Slowdown Fears

The stock market staged a dramatic turnaround on Thursday, with the Dow turning a 380-point loss into a 400-point gain by the close.

Judging from technology earnings reports after the close, investors’ optimism was well placed.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), AMD (NYSE: AMD) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) all posted better than expected results after the close. Google and AMD shares jumped 8-9% each on the news, but IBM added only 1% or so, as the company had let investors know the good news last week. AMD’s results were particularly strong, and the company even reported a surprise pro-forma profit after factoring out charges.

Together, the results helped restore confidence in a market reeling from uncertainty after eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) had delivered disappointing guidance earlier in the week.

IBM also made encouraging comments about the commercial paper market, one of several signs on Thursday that credit markets are finally thawing a bit.

Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) shares helped launched Thursday’s turnaround, as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google continue to fight over the company.

eBay slipped on its disappointing outlook, but Nokia (NYSE: NOK) jumped 10% on results and guidance that weren’t as bad as feared.

The Nasdaq rose 89 to 1717, the S&P gained 38 to 946, and the Dow jumped 401 to 8979. Volume rose to 8.1 billion shares on the NYSE, and 3.42 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 22-9 margin on the NYSE, and 19-9 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 78% on the NYSE, and 87% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 49-551 on the NYSE, and 2-414 on the Nasdaq.