Overnight Markets: Wall Street rebounds on positive corporate news

The Dow Jones was up 113 points amid strong corporate earnings report and positive economic data. 

US stocks rebounded sharply on Thursday from the previous session's losses as positive corporate and economic news overshadowed gloom over worsening eurozone debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 113 points, or 0.96%, at 11,894. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 11 points, or 0.86%, at 1,240. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up four points, or 0.13%, at 2,625. 

US companies released positive results, with Merck raising its dividend and Cisco reporting strong earnings, reinforcing the view that corporate America is showing strength.

Italy paid sharply higher rates for its one-year borrowing, but not as much as some had feared. French bond yields surged amid concerns over the country's credit rating. Standard & Poor's later blamed a technical error for the distribution of a message suggesting it had downgraded France's credit rating. 

Adding to the positive sentiment, Thursday's economic data showed new US weekly jobless claims declined to the lowest level since April, while the trade deficit unexpectedly decreased in September to its narrowest level since December.

In Greece, former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos was appointed to head the country's new crisis coalition.

Merck gained 3.5% after the drugmaker raised its quarterly dividend by 11%, its first increase since 2004. 

Cisco Systems jumped 5.7% after the network equipment maker's earnings beat estimates.

Energy shares rose after US crude oil gained 2.1%. Hess Corp added 4%.

Elsewhere, United Technologies rose 1.3%, while 3M added 1.7%. After the market closed, Walt Disney gained 2.9% in extended trading after reporting fourth-quarter revenue that beat expectations. 

On the negative side, Nordstrom sank 4.1% after the retailer didn't raise the upper end of its full-year profit forecast.

In Asia, equities bounced back on Friday in the afternoon session after positive US jobless data and the selection of a new Greek premier tempered concern Europe’s debt crisis won’t be contained.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.9% to 117, as of 1:52 p.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1% and South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 2.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.4%.

In company news, Sony climbed 2.9%, Hynix Semiconductor advanced 1.9% in Seoul and Genting Singapore slumped 4.8%.