Stocks rose Thursday on stronger corporate earnings and hopes that the job market may be improving.

Software company Red Hat Inc., chip maker Micron Technology Inc. and Chef Boyardee maker ConAgra Foods Inc. all reported results that beat expectations. Earnings growth has been strong across U.S. companies, which are benefiting from lower costs and stronger revenue overseas.

The government also said fewer people filed for unemployment benefits last week, evidence that layoffs are slowing. The average number of unemployment filings over the last four weeks has dropped to its lowest level since July 2008.

"Corporate earnings continue to be exceptionally strong," said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services. "I think the markets continue to focus on the underlying recovery of the U.S. economy."

Investors are turning their attention away from a long list of recent worries including high oil prices, violence in Libya and Japan's nuclear crisis. Portugal also headed closer to a bailout after its government resigned late Wednesday. European leaders are meeting to discuss the region's debt problems.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,159. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,307. The Nasdaq composite index rose 29 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,727.

Oil hovered around $106 per barrel Thursday after government reports gave a mixed read on the U.S. economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said companies trimmed orders for manufactured goods in February, suggesting that businesses are limiting their spending right now. More positive news came from the Labor Department, which said fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, evidence that employers could be expanding their work forces.

Benchmark crude prices fluctuated as traders digested the news. The contract for May delivery added 52 cents at $106.27 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices have jumped 24 percent since the middle of February, when a rebellion broke out in Libya and eventually squeezed off production that supplied nearly 2 percent of the world's oil. While rebels and pro-Gadhafi forces still battle in Libya, and the U.S. and other nations enforce a no-fly zone, some oil companies are taking their workers out of Yemen where anti-government protests have been intensifying. Yemen produces only 0.3 percent of the world's oil, according to the International Energy Administration, but it is an important transit point for crude shipments in the Middle East.

Stocks are mixed in midday trading as investors weighed the impact of President Barack Obama's budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

Obama unveiled a $3.73 trillion budget Monday that includes a five-year freeze on many domestic spending programs. Republicans and Democrats have argued recently over whether deep spending cuts will slow the economy's recovery.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dropped 1.4 percent after analysts at JPMorgan downgraded the company. Wal-Mart was the weakest stock among the 30 that make up the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow fell 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,255. The S&P 500 rose less than a point to 1,329. The Nasdaq composite gained 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,816.

The technology company said its cash tender offer applies to any and all of the $400 million in aggregate principal amount outstanding. The tender offer expires on Feb. 22, unless extended.

Honeywell's obligation to accept and pay for notes tendered hinges on whether net proceeds from the company's simultaneous offering of new notes are sufficient to buy old notes that are validly tendered.

Shares of Honeywell fell 53 cents, or about 0.9 percent, to $57.45 in morning trading.

THE SPARK: Clorox shares climbed 8 percent Friday to close at $71.26, after Icahn's stake was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The notice came a week after Clorox reported an 81 percent drop in fiscal second-quarter profit on softer sales and a charge.

THE BIG PICTURE: The Oakland, Calif., company makes a range of cleaning products along with food products such as Hidden Valley salad dressing.

Icahn has a history of investing in companies going through difficult financial situations and pushing for changes.

The analyst said it was too early to understand the motivation behind Icahn's interest. The investor's targets seem to fall in three categories: break ups, merger and acquisition candidates, or companies that are pushed to improve business fundamentals.