* UPS rises after results, lifting transport sector
* Google sinks in extended trading after Q1 results
* Dow up 0.2 pct, S&P 500 up 0.1 pct, Nasdaq up 0.4 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Updates to close)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks posted their
sixth straight day of gains on Thursday as an encouraging
profit forecast from United Parcel Service <UPS.N> lifted
transportation shares, though concerns about a rise in weekly
jobless claims limited the market's advance.
Financial stocks weighed on the S&P 500 as they gave back
some gains after Wednesday's strong rally.
UPS late Wednesday posted a first-quarter profit that was
sharply above consensus and raised its profit outlook,
becoming the latest bellwether to exceed expectations. For
details, see []
The stock rose 5.3 percent to $68.89 while rival shipper
FedEx Corp <FDX.N> gained 1.7 percent to $95.62. The Dow Jones
Transportation Average <.DJT> climbed 1.7 percent, hitting a
52-week high in intraday trading.
New U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly soared last week due
to applications delayed by the Easter holiday.
[]
"We continue to see better-than-expected numbers across a
variety of sectors, which shows economic improvement, but
ultimately we need to see good labor market data to confirm
that the recovery is in place," said Channing Smith, vice
president of Capital Advisors, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Google Inc <GOOG.O> fell 2.1 percent to $583 in extended
trading after it reported its first-quarter results. The stock
rose 1.1 percent to end at $595.30 on Nasdaq, helping boost
the Nasdaq. Google's climb during regular trading followed
upbeat results from Intel Corp <INTC.O> earlier this week.
Intel shot up 3 percent to $24.22 and was the Dow's top
percentage gainer.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 21.46 points,
or 0.19 percent, to end at 11,144.57. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> edged up 1.02 points, or 0.08 percent, to
1,211.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> gained 10.83
points, or 0.43 percent, to close at 2,515.69.
Earlier, the S&P 500 touched an intraday high at 1,213.92,
its highest in 19 months. The Dow also reached a 19-month
intraday high at 11,154.55 earlier in the session.
Citigroup was the most actively traded name on the Big
Board, losing 2.4 percent to $4.81. According to NYSE Euronext
data, nearly 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup changed hands on
the New York Stock Exchange -- or 25 percent of the day's
5.995 billion shares traded. Citigroup is set to report
quarterly results on Monday.
S&P 500 companies' quarterly earnings are forecast to rise
38.2 percent from a year ago, slightly better than the 36.6
percent increase forecast on April 1, according to Thomson
Reuters data.
Worries that debt-plagued Greece was ready to use an
emergency bailout package weighed on sentiment earlier in the
day, but the S&P 500 remained well above the key 1,200 mark
and the Dow above 11,000. The recent break above those levels
was the first time since September 2008.
The next key resistance level is 1,214 on the S&P 500,
just shy of the 61.8 Fibonnaci retracement from the all-time
high reached in October 2007 to the multi-year low reached in
March 2009.
In other data released on Thursday, the Philadelphia
Federal Reserve Bank's business activity index rose slightly
more than expected in April, while the New York Federal
Reserve's "Empire State" manufacturing index rose to a
six-month high.
Analysts have been more optimistic about the U.S. stock
market's performance for the year. On Thursday, Bank of
America-Merrill Lynch raised its year-end target for the S&P
500 to 1,300 from 1,275. []
About 10.07 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, above last
year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
Decliners slightly outnumbered advancers on the New York
Stock Exchange by a ratio of about 8 to 7, while on the
Nasdaq, about five stocks rose for every four that fell.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
