Wall Street ends the day on positive note

Stocks closed broadly higher Thursday on Wall Street as investors welcomed another batch of encouraging quarterly results from big companies.

A breakthrough in negotiations over Britain’s exit from the European Union also helped put traders in a buying mood.

The gains erased the market’s modest losses from the day before. The benchmark S&P 500 index is on track for its second straight weekly gain.

Health care, communication services and industrial stocks drove much of the market’s gains. Technology was the only laggard. Smaller-company stocks outdid the rest of the market.

Investors have shifted their focus t to the latest round of corporate earnings after weeks of turbulence on Wall Street as the market reacted to developments in the U.S.-China trade war.

Several companies have turned in surprisingly good third-quarter results and out looks. That’ s helped ease some investors’ concerns over the economy, though red flags remain over the trade war.

“About 76 percent of those that have reported have beat on earnings,” said Adam Taback, deputy chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank.

The forecasts from companies haven’t been as negative as many expected, Taback said, but many have raised concerns about “slowing global growth and risk of trade wars.”

The S&P 500 index gained 8.26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,997.95. The index is within 0.1 percent of its all-time high set in July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly slipped into the red, but managed to add 23.90 points, or 0.1, to 27,025.88. The Nasdaq rose 32.67 points, or 0.4 percent, to 8,156.85.

Traders favored smaller-company stocks. The Russell 2000 index climbed 16.79, or 1.1 percent, to 1,541.84.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.75 percent from 1.74 percent late Wednesday.

The market climbed in the early going as investors reviewed earnings reports from several companies, including Netflix, CSX and Morgan Stanley.

U.S. stocks also got a boost from news that Britain had reached a tentative deal to separate from the European Union.

The deal, which faces a potentially tough road to approval in Britain’s Parliament, led to a mixed finish for major European stock indexes.

Benchmark crude oil rose 57 cents to settle at $53.93 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 49 cents to close at $59.91 a barrel.

Gold rose $4.30 to $1,492.30 per ounce, silver rose 19 cents to $17.54 per ounce and copper rose 1 cent to $2.59 per pound.

The dollar fell to 108.68 Japanese yen from 108.77 yen on Wednesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1124 from $1.1072.