US stocks mixed amid Europe debt doubts

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 37.16 points (0.32 per cent) to finish at 11,541.78.

The broader S&P 500 rose 5.51 points (0.46 per cent) to 1,215.39, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.42 points (0.21 per cent) to 2,598.62.

Divisions among European Union member nations over how to resolve the eurozone sovereign debt crisis had markets on both sides of the Atlantic on edge.

"It was a roller-coaster session on Wall Street today, thanks to hot-and-cold economic data and conflicting reports from the eurozone," said Andrea Kramer at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"Skepticism about the outcome of this weekend's European summit is weighing on Wall Street," said Scott Marcouiller at Wells Fargo Advisors.

"Doubts are emerging about a possible agreement to solve the debt crisis."

A European Union summit slated Sunday will now be followed by a second summit by Wednesday, the leaders of France and Germany said.

Some mildly positive economic indicators were offset by weakness in tech stocks.

Sentiment was encouraged by a fall in weekly jobless claims, confirming a downward trend since early April.

Also helping was a surge in the regional economic index of the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve, showing better than expected activity in manufacturing, the best in three months.

Existing-home sales fell 3.0 per cent in September, in line with forecasts.

"For the second straight session the Nasdaq is being undermined by weakness among tech issues," Briefing.com analysts noted.

Apple fell 0.8 per cent to $395.31, after its 5.6 per cent tumble Wednesday on disappointing iPhone quarterly sales.

Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, slipped 0.3 per cent.

After the market closed, Microsoft reported fiscal first-quarter profit rose six per cent, to $5.74 billion, in line with analyst expectations, and revenue that beat forecasts. Shares were down 1.2 per cent in after-hours trading.

Yahoo! surged 1.5 per cent as rumors swirled of a possible imminent takeover deal, with Microsoft and China's Alibaba possible suitors, though chief executive Jerry Yang said in Hong Kong that all options are open for the company.

"If we look at this whole thing... there are many ways to create value and so far we have not ruled out any possibilities," Yang said.

AT&T was down 0.5 per cent after reporting steady earnings that met forecasts.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.18 per cent from 2.16 per cent late Wednesday, while the 30-year Treasury climbed to 3.20 per cent from 3.17.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.