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Stocks Salvage Gains In Session Stirred By Apple, AMD, Facebook, Fed

Stocks ended Wednesday's session mixed, ahead of Facebook's report scheduled after the close. (Evan Lorne/Shutterstock.com)

Stocks wrapped Wednesday's session with modest gains, despite a powerful boost from Apple (AAPL), a spike in January job growth and a better-than-expected increase in January's manufacturing activity.

The Nasdaq powered up 0.5%, while the Dow Jones industrial average added 0.1% and the S&P 500 booked a fractional gain. Small caps were under pressure during the session, leaving the Russell 2000 with a flat finish.

The Dow and S&P 500 backed out of early gains ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's midafternoon policy announcement, although the no-change, no-news release itself appeared to levy little impact on the rest of the day's trade.

Today's stock market then turned its attention to Facebook (FB), which reported results after the close. The social media company beat sales and profit expectations, sending its shares up about 2% in extended trading. That would leave Facebook with an all-time high.

Apple ended the day up 6% and at an 18-month high after blowing past analyst expectations in its fiscal first-quarter report delivered late Tuesday. At least nine analysts raised their price targets on the stock following the report, in which both sales and earnings growth turned positive after three quarters of declines.

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) flashed 16% higher in a powerful rebound from support at its 10-week moving average. The company reported a narrow revenue beat and a 1-cent loss vs. expectations for a 2-cent loss.

Office supplies brand Avery Dennison (AVY) filed a 9% advance, outpacing analysts' fourth-quarter revenue and earnings estimates and guiding full-year earnings above consensus forecasts. The gain left Avery just above a 79.37 buy point in a five-month cup base.

Nvidia (NVDA) bolted 4% higher in weak trade, continuing further up the right side of a five-week consolidation.

Managed care provider Anthem (ANTM) grabbed a 4% gain in heavy trade. Fourth-quarter earnings and revenue easily topped analysts' targets, and patient enrollment growth was stronger-than-expected.

Among IBD 50 stocks, Aetna (AET), Facebook and Ellie Mae (ELLI) all booked gains of better than 2%. Among those three, only Facebook was near a buy point — less than 3% above a 129.37 buy point in a cup-with-handle base.

Other than Facebook, today's A-list after hours reporting schedule includes results from NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Tractor Supply (TSCO), Weatherford International (WFT) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS), among others.

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