US stocks rise as investors continue to shrug off fears

US stocks continued to rally on Thursday as investors are shrugging off bad news and focusing on some positive developments from the US corporate sector.

The S&P 500 Index climbed 9.76 points, or 0.75 percent, to trade at 1,307.30 at 1:40 p.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial rallied 77.50 points, or 0.64 percent, to trade at 12,163.52. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.17 percent.

Weekly unemployment claims, reported at 8:30 a.m. EST, came in better than expected at 382,000. However, durable goods orders for February were disappointing. In the previous session, the Census Bureau reported that February US new home sales plunged to the lowest level on record.

News coming out of corporate sector continues to be positive as solid earnings and M&A activities impress investors.

AT&T (NYSE:T) was upgraded today after its acquisition of T-Mobile on the expected synergies between the two companies.

Walgreens (NYSE:WAG) announced it will buy Drugstore.com (NASDAQ:DSCM) for about $409 million.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) surged 7.93 percent after it reported upbeat earnings.

Meanwhile, crude oil remains above $105 per barrel as civil war continues to rage on in Libya.

However, like yesterday, bulls in US equities are shrugging off the bad news and continue to buy up shares.