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Stocks climbed around the globe on Thursday, helped by strong results for technology names such as Apple, Facebook and Nokia. Investors were also absorbing a speech from President
Joe Biden.
Shortly after the open, the
gained 138 points, or 0.4%, while the
rose 0.7%, and the
advanced 0.9%.
The Hong Kong
and China’s
rose around 0.8% each. The
rose 0.3%, on a heavy earnings day, though gains were tempered somewhat by a surprise jump in German jobless claims.
Investors were also absorbing Biden’s Wednesday evening address to Congress, where he proposed an expansive $1.8 trillion spending plan to address child care, education, and paid family leave, to be funded by tax hikes on wealthy Americans. He also said he wasn’t satisfied with the current 6% unemployment rate, with the word “jobs” appearing more than 40 times in his prepared text.
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The economy will stay in focus on Thursday, with weekly jobless claims falling to 553,000, a new pandemic low. Gross domestic product grew 6.4% for the first quarter, below expectations for 6.5%. Still, bond yields rose to 1.673%.
Tech names were in the driver’s seat, with
(ticker: FB) shares soaring 6.4% toward record territory after the social-media giant soundly beat Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue. The company’s daily and monthly user counts also grew faster than expected.
Shares of
(AAPL) climbed 1.7% as fiscal second-quarter revenue surged 54% and profit came in at $1.40 a share, crushing Wall Street estimates. The iPhone maker also boosted share buybacks and lifted its dividend.
Shares of
(QCOM) climbed 5%, as strong 5G hardware sales powered an earnings beat and the mobile chip maker forecast another upbeat quarter. But
shares were falling despite an upside surprise on profits, as a growing global semiconductor shortage caused the car maker to reduce full-year earnings.
(CAT) stock slipped 0.3% after reporting a profit of $2.87 a share, beating forecasts for $1.94 a share, on sales of $11.9 billion, ahead of expectations for $10.9 billion.
(VER) stock rose nearly 19% after
(O) said it would acquire the company for $11 billion.
Shares of
(NCLH),
(CCL), and
(RCL) rose 6.3%, 3.5%, and 3.5%, respectively. The Center for Disease Control said cruise lines can start sailing this summer. Royal Caribbean also reported a smaller than expected loss.
Meanwhile, U.S.-listed shares of
surged 15%, matching overseas gains as the Finnish telecom equipment maker reported forecast-beating results, boosted by 5G growth and stuck to its 2021 and 2023 outlooks. The company said that it was delivering products to clients despite a global chip shortage.
As for major oil producers, the U.K.’s
and France’s
both produced strong results, driving shares of each higher by more than 1%.
Write to Jacob Sonenshine at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com
