US markets ended with modest gains

The US markets had a more muted response to corporate earnings. In key corporate earnings after the bell, Apple posted a quarterly profit way past Wall Street forecasts on strong sales of Mac computers and improved margins. Net profit came in at $ 1.23 billion. The company issued a conservative outlook for the current quarter, forecasting earnings of $ 1.18 to $ 1.23 a share on revenue of $ 8.7 billion to $ 8.9 billion.

The popular search engine, Yahoo’s second-quarter profit rose 8%, boosted by the company’s cost-cutting measures. However, revenue for the quarter fell 13% to $ 1.57 billion. Yahoo’s forecast for third-quarter fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, as the company announced plans to step up spending and cited continued weakness in the advertising market.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in his testimony to the US Congress said while there are some signs of stabilization in the economy, unemployment is still a trouble spot.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones was up nearly 0.8%, while both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added 0.4%.

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