Stocks climbed Thursday as strong earnings and improved economic data trumped worries about a Greek financial crisis that had clobbered the market in previous days.

The Dow Jones industrial average made its biggest one-day gain since early March, surging 1.1 percent, or 122.05 points, to close at 11,167.32. The broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index jumped 15.42 points to close at 1206.78, a 1.3 percent gain. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 1.6 percent, or 40.19, to 2511.92.
“Before, we had a wall of worry, and now, we have earnings that say, 'Hey, we're moving forward,'“ said Bernie McGinn, chief executive of McGinn Investment Management in Alexandria.
Investor fears about Greece eased as the country appeared closer to securing financial aid from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, both of which are under increasing pressure to come through with the needed funding. E.U. officials said Thursday that they were “within days” of finalizing a rescue package that would require the Greek government to impose strict austerity measures.
The increased likelihood of a solution to the debt crisis pushed yields on Greece's two-year government bonds down by 3 percentage points. The euro, which had been on a steady slide since Greece's financial troubles first flared, gained 0.1 percent against the dollar on Thursday. Meanwhile, stocks in Europe recovered some of the losses incurred earlier in the week. In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.6 percent and the DAX in Germany rose 1 percent. As investors look away from Greece, they are cheering strong performances from a string of U.S. companies that on Thursday reported first-quarter results and boosted earnings forecasts.
Among them was health insurer Aetna, which said its net income for the quarter surged 29 percent from a year earlier, to $562.6 million, in part because of cost cutting and lower-than-expected medical claims. Its shares jumped 2.4 percent, closing at $31.24.
Phone maker Motorola reversed its year-ago losses as it posted an unexpected $69 million profit, driven by strong sales of its Droid smartphones. Its shares rose 3.5 percent, to $7.16.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts, owner of the St. Regis and W brands, beat expectations for the quarter when it reported a $30 million profit on Thursday, sending its shares up 5.7 percent, to $56.29.
“Investors are finally turning their attention back to what's important and that's fundamentals and profits,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago.
Of the 300 companies on the S&P index that have reported first-quarter earnings, nearly 80 percent are beating analysts' expectations, Ablin said. “There are very few disappointments.