Tech stocks boosted equities Thursday, with bank shares also in demand.

High expectations for Google which will report its quarterly profit after the close of trading, and the actual results by JP Morgan, held traders attention.

At the close of trading Thursday the Dow Jones Industrials were up 95.81 points or 1.19% at 8,125.43.

The Nasdaq Composite however was the star with the benchmark index ahead 43.64 points or 2.68% at 1,670.44.

The Standard and Poor's 500 was up 13.24 points or 1.55% at 865.30.

The U.S. dollar was stronger across the board rising to 1.3170 against the euro. The British pound was firm at 1.4924, while the Australian dollar slipped to .7195.

The Japanese yen was little changed at 99.33, while the Swiss franc weakened to 1.1476.

The Canadian dollar was virtually unchanged at 1.2092.