Dow Gains For Third Straight Session

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks finished with respectable gains on Thursday as data showing progress in the housing market offset a handful of high-profile earnings misses and another disappointing read on weekly initial jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 114 points, or 0.9%, to close at 13,205. The S&P 500 gained 9 points, or 0.7%, to settle at 1400. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 have now risen in three straight sessions.

The Nasdaq , which jumped more than 2% on Wednesday, added 21 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 3051.

Breadth within the Dow was positive with 24 of the index's 30 components finishing the day higher, led by Wal-Mart(WMT) , Chevron(CVX) , AT&T(T) and Verizon (VZ) .

Exxon(XOM) , Microsoft(MSFT) , duPont(DD) and Home Depot(HD) were the weakest performers among the blue chips.

In the broad market, winners narrowly outpaced losers by a 2-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange and 1.5-to-1 on the Nasdaq. The VIX, which measures market volatility through options activity in the S&P 500, was more than 3% lower at 16.24, backing away from the 20- level that is indicative of heightening market fear.

Stocks finished higher Wednesday with the Nasdaq outperforming the broad market, soaring 2.3%, because of a massive post-earnings rally in Apple(AAPL) . Also, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke once again left the door for more quantitative easing slightly ajar during a press conference following a rather rote policy meeting that showed some evidence of growing hawkishness within the central bank.