(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished higher on Thursday after retail giant Wal-Mart reported better than expected quarterly results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 36.58 points or 0.39% to finish at 9,398.19. The S&P 500 climbed 6.92 points or 0.69% to end at 1,012.73. The Nasdaq Composite rose 10.63 points or 0.53% to 2,009.35.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: ) soared $1.07 or 6.72% to $17.In a regulatory filing, billionaire John Paulson’s hedge fund said that it bought 168 million shares of Bank of America Corp. in the second quarter. JP Morgan (NYSE: ) climbed 69 cents or 1.63% to $42.90.

Shares of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: ), the largest US aluminum maker, jumped 75 cents or 5.79% to $13.71.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: ) rallied $1.04 or 2.24% to $47.47.

Shares of DuPont (NYSE: ) surged 74 cents or 2.28% to $68.75.

Home Depot (NYSE: ) rose 48 cents or 1.76% to $27.68.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: ) on Thursday reported that second-quarter net income totaled $3.44 billion, or 88 cents per share, compared with $3.45 billion, or 87 cents per share, in the prior year period. Revenue slipped 1.4% to $100.08 billion. Same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, dropped 1.2% during the quarter. Looking ahead to the third quarter, Wal-Mart expects earnings per share in the range of 78 cents and 82 cents per share.