Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com

Bank of America (BAC) posted first-quarter adjusted results that beat consensus, but shares declined 5 cents, or 0.56%, to $8.87. The bank said sales and trading revenue, excluding accounting adjustments, more than doubled from last quarter and its provision for credit losses was the smallest since the third quarter of 2007.

Among other Dow components, Verizon (VZ) and Travelers (TRV) also reported earnings that exceeded expectations and both saw their shares rise following the reports, with Verizon gaining over 2% and Travelers advancing more than 4%.

Du Pont (DD) was the fourth Dow name to beat on earnings, but shares fell 1.5% in midday trading.

Among other companies reporting earnings, advancers included eBay (EBAY), Cypress Semi (CY), Boston Scientific (BSX), New York Times (NYT) and Morgan Stanley (MS); decliners included Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), Qualcomm (QCOM), Yum! Brands (YUM) and Life Time Fitness (LTM).

Among the notable gainers in the markets Thursday were Human Genome Sciences (HGSI), up 97%, after saying it had turned down an unsolicited $13 per share buyout proposal from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Mellanox (MLNX), up 43%, following upgrades from at least three firms after its first-quarter earnings report and guidance.

Noteworthy stock market losers included Achillion's (ACHN), down nearly 16%, with the decline attributed by Wells Fargo to positive data for Gilead's (GILD) oral hepatitis C combination treatment, and Houston American Energy (HUSA), down 40%, after the company announced it is terminating testing on its Tamandua #1 well and confirmed and SEC investigation and three subpoenas.