Stocks closed with a strong rebound Thursday, recouping Wednesday’s losses and then some. The Nasdaq rallied 1.6%, the S&P 500 1.2% and the Dow Jones industrial average 1.3%. Thanks to upbeat quarterly earnings reports, Caterpillar (CAT) and 3M (MMM) were the biggest percent gainers in the blue-chip index. They rallied 5% and 4%, respectively. Volume ended mixed in the stock market today, according to preliminary data.