U.S. Stocks Rally On Facebook Deal, Tesla's Huge Quarter

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks advanced Thursday, fighting back from early losses as traders continued to blame weak U.S. economic data on unusually bad winter weather.

Wall Street ignored a downbeat manufacturing report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve and troubling economic news from China, instead focusing on strong earnings from Tesla and a major deal involving social networking giant Facebook.

The S&P 500 rose 11.03 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 1,839.78, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 92.67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 16,133.23. The Nasdaq Composite added 29.59 points, or 0.7 percent, to finish at 4,267.55

All three major indices were in the positive territory for the week, with the S&P 500 set to challenge its all-time high on Friday.

Facebook (FB) shares rose 2.2 percent as the company announced a $19 billion bid for mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp. FB shares rose 2.9 percent.

Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) led the Nasdaq after trouncing earnings estimates on a huge jump in revenues. Tesla stock advanced 8.3 percent.

On the other hand, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) fell 1.6 percent to $73.49 after the world's biggest retailer reported a drop in U.S. same-store sales and gave an earnings outlook below expectations.

Verizon (VZ) rose 3.2 percent after an upgrade from Jeffries analysts.

Quanta Services (PWR) picked up 7.2 percent after the network installer reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.50, which topped the consensus estimate of $0.40.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) shares rose 2.4 percent ahead of earnings due after the closing bell.

Looking at today's economic data, manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region significantly worsened amid brutal winter weather, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's survey of business owners.

The Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index dropped sharply to a reading of negative 6.3 in February from a 9.4 reading in January.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.3 percent in January to 99.5, suggesting the world's largest economy did not lose much momentum despite severe winter weather.

And layoff activity moderated a bit last week, according to new government statistics released Thursday.

The U.S. Labor Department revealed that initial jobless claims fell 3,000 to 336,000 for the week ended February 15. This followed an unrevised reading of 339,000 in the previous week.

Elsewhere, China's flash Markit/HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a seven-month low in February.