Stocks Jump Early Thursday
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are climbing Thursday morning as technology companies, banks and industrial companies rally. Companies including Delta Air Lines and BlackRock are rising after they reported strong results in the first quarter. Big technology companies including Apple and Microsoft are making some of the biggest gains.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index gained 28 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,670 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average added 314 points, or 1.3 percent, to 24,503. The Nasdaq composite climbed 78 points, or 1.1 percent, to 7,147. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks advanced 8 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,555.
EARNINGS REPORTS: Delta Air Lines had a stronger first quarter than Wall Street expected as both passenger and cargo revenue improved. The stock rose 2.3 percent to $52.63. BlackRock gained 2.6 percent to $538.75 after it also surpassed expectations.
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Home goods retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond plunged after it gave a weak forecast for the fiscal year. The company also said it expects its earnings to decline next year. Its stock lost 19 percent to $17.41. Retailer L Brands, the parent of Victoria's Secret, lost 3.6 percent to $36.52.
Their online rival Amazon gained 1.3 percent to $1,445.48.
LEADERS: Apple rose 1.1 percent to $174.35 and Microsoft picked up 1.7 percent to $93.45 to lead the gains among technology companies. In the industrial sector, Boeing rose 2.1 percent to $334.15 and Caterpillar picked up 1.3 percent to $148.76. After
COMMODITIES: Oil prices dipped after big gains over the last two days. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 0.4 percent to $66.56 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 0.7 percent to $71.56 a barrel in London.
Precious metals prices tumbled. Gold dropped 1.2 percent to $1,344.20 an ounce and silver fell 1.5 percent to $16.52 an ounce.
BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.82 percent from 2.79 percent. That helped banks and weighed on big dividend stocks like utilities.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 107.38 yen from 106.95 yen. The euro fell to $1.2307 from $1.2362.
OVERSEAS: The DAX in Germany rose 0.9 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.5 percent. The FTSE 100 in Britain was unchanged. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index dipped 0.1 percent while the Kospi in South Korea ended 0.1 percent lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.2 percent.
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