NEW YORK (REUTERS) - US stocks advanced on Thursday (April 26) with each of Wall Street's major indexes ending the session up 1 per cent or higher, boosted by solid earnings results and a rebound in technology stocks as US bond yields pulled back.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq snapped a five-day losing streak while the S&P technology index booked its first up day in six sessions.

Facebook surged 9.1 per cent after posting an impressive earnings beat, which appeared to calm worries about the fallout from its use of consumer data.

Chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Qualcomm Inc rose 13.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, after quarterly results beat Wall Street estimates and alleviated worries over softening smartphone demand.

Their advances helped lift the Philadelphia Semiconductor index 2.1 per cent, breaking its six-day losing streak and at the close of its best day in three weeks.

"Earnings continue to be better than expected and you have many of the geopolitical concerns like trade wars put on the back burner temporarily. And the commentary has been good," said Channing Smith, managing principal at Jackson Hole Capital Partners in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"It's a tug-of-war market where you've concerns about the 10-year (Treasury bond) yield rising and inflation expectations rising and geopolitical concerns and the tariff concerns against the best earnings we've seen in years," said Smith.

The yield on US 10-year Treasuries closed below the 3 per cent level as buyers emerged following a sell-off fueled by worries over growing U.S. debt issuance and rising costs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.51 points, or 0.99 per cent, to 24,322.34, the S&P 500 gained 27.54 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 2,666.94 and the Nasdaq Composite added 114.94 points, or 1.64 per cent, to 7,118.68.

So far, 45 per cent of S&P 500 companies have reported first-quarter earnings, with 79.7 per cent beating consensus estimates. Analysts see 23.1 per cent earnings growth for the quarter, based on a blend of actual and estimated results.

Amazon.com shares jumped more than 6 per cent in after-market trading after the online retailer reported a 43 per cent surge in first-quarter revenue.

General Motors edged up 0.4 per cent after the automaker reported a production drop of its high-margin pickup trucks, despite posting higher-than-expected profit.

United Parcel Service shares rose 4.3 per cent after the world's largest package delivery company defied cost and weather headwinds to post higher first-quarter profit and strong volumes.

Visa also helped lift the tech sector, advancing 4.8 per cent following the payments network's better-than-expected profit and earnings forecast raise.

AT&T shares slumped 6 per cent. It reported a loss of subscribers from its pay TV business.

Union Pacific Corp shares fell 2.9 per cent. The No. 1 US railroad operator cautioned on a key operating metric, helping send the Dow Jones Transportation Average down 0.9 per cent.

In economic news, new orders for durable goods unexpectedly dropped in March as demand for machinery registered its biggest decline in more than two years, according to the Commerce Department. However, the Labour Department reported initial claims for unemployment fell to their lowest level since 1969, suggesting the labor market is at or near full employment.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.26-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.06-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.74 billion shares, compared with the 6.67 billion-share average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.