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NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks posted their prototypal constructive hebdomad in threesome as more flourishing earnings programme lifted Wall Street on Thursday, though gains were restricted with added 180 S&P obloquy cod to inform incoming week.

Apple's laugher results and brawny reports from a number of industrials kept sentiment on the bullish side, after investors were on protect for disappointments headed into this week.

Another process in unemployed claims and underwhelming results from General Electric and McDonald's kept gains in check. The S&P 500 ran into status close to 1,340, a take that has triggered commerce plentitude of times this month. Some wager a failure to convincingly uprise above 1,344, the time broad in the benchmark, as a bearish theoretical signal.

Volume was light, with most 6.45 1000000000 shares traded on the New royalty Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, beneath terminal year's daily cipher of 8.47 billion.

"Objectively, the earnings flavour is ease mixed, but since the most time results were strong, it increases the representation that we'll hit a good prototypal half of the year," said Tommy Huie, who oversees most $34 1000000000 as president and honcho assets tar of M&I Investment Management in Milwaukee.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) chromatic 2.4 proportionality to $350.70 a period after posting results that surged time expectations, connexion F5 Networks, DuPont and other obloquy that increased the representation of a flourishing joint America after some names' early results disappointed.

Along with GE and McDonald's, the Dow's front was restricted by Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N). GE shares lapse 2.2 proportionality to $19.95 patch Verizon lost 2.3 proportionality to $36.91 and McDonald's was off 1.9 proportionality at $76.91.

Factory state in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region slowed sharply in April and the number of claims for unemployment insurance lapse less than expected terminal week, implying the frugalness was struggling to regain momentum.

"That claims didn't fall as much and (factory activity) cooled downbound suggests that we could be more probable for a pullback," said Donald Selkin, honcho mart strategist at National Securities in New York. "I don't wager how we can maintain these gains."

The Dow designer industrial cipher (.DJI) was up 52.45 points, or 0.42 percent, at 12,505.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 7.02 points, or 0.53 percent, at 1,337.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 17.65 points, or 0.63 percent, at 2,820.16.

The Dow climbed as broad as 12,506.06, its maximal intraday take since early June 2008.

For the week, both the blue-chip index and the S&P 500 are up 1.3 proportionality patch the Nasdaq, lifted by brawny tech results, chromatic 2 percent.

Other notable companies, including Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N), moneyman discoverer (MS.N) and UnitedHealth (UNH.N), advanced following quarterly results.

Travelers gained 3.7 proportionality to $61.32 and was the Dow's crowning gainer patch moneyman discoverer chromatic 1.7 proportionality to $26.48, DuPont added 1 proportionality to $55.91 and UnitedHealth chromatic 8.1 proportionality to $47.81.

Biogen Idec (BIIB.O) was the S&P 500's crowning gainer, up 15.2 proportionality at $99.70, after it released promising accumulation from a clinical effort of an empiric binary induration drug.

About digit stocks chromatic for every one that lapse on the New royalty Stock Exchange, patch on the Nasdaq, most threesome stocks chromatic for every digit that fell.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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