US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Thursday as markets parsed the latest set of corporate earnings and awaited Apple's (AAPL) results.

IPhone maker Apple is scheduled to report results after Thursday's closing bell, along with payments giant Visa (V) and chipmaker Intel (INTC).

* The US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.3% in the fourth quarter, slower than a Bloomberg-compiled consensus of 2.6%. In the third quarter, the economy grew 3.1%.

* Pending home sales in the US unexpectedly declined in December after four consecutive months of gains, the National Association of Realtors said.

"After four straight months of gains in contract signings, one step back is not welcome news, but it is not entirely surprising," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "High mortgage rates have not significantly dented housing demand due to greater numbers of cash transactions."

* March West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $1.08 to settle at $73.70 per barrel, while March Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen $0.91 higher at $77.49 despite threats by the Trump Administration to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, the two largest sources of U.S. oil imports.

* Microsoft (MSFT) issued fiscal Q3 revenue guidance that fell short of estimates, and several analysts on Thursday cut their price targets for the company. That company's shares were down 6.2%.

* Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks (JNPR) said they will "vigorously defend" their proposed deal in court following the US Justice Department's decision to file a lawsuit to block the $14 billion transaction on antitrust grounds. Shares of Hewlett Packard fell 2.2%, while Juniper Networks declined 2.3%.