The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased a small loss to trade just north of unchanged after a second April reading of the University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index showed further improvement.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 closed up 23.62 points, or 0.4%, to 5912, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 117.03 points, or 2.8%, to 42215 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 74.93 points, or 0.39%, to ...