WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After seeing considerable volatility early in the session, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages gave back some ground going into the end of the day but still posted strong gains. The Dow surged 790.33 points or 1.6 percent to 49,652.14, the S&P 500 jumped 73.06 points or 1 percent to 7,209.01 and the Nasdaq advanced 219.08 points or 0.9 percent to 24,892.31.
The Dow turned in a strong performance throughout the day amid a sharp increase by shares of Caterpillar (CAT), with the construction equipment spiking by 9.9 percent.
Shares of Caterpillar soared after the company reported better than expected first quarter results and raised its full-year revenue forecast.
Chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) also skyrocketed by 15.1 percent on the day after reporting second quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.
Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) also surged by 10 percent after the Google parent better than expected first quarter revenues.
On the other hand, Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and software giant Microsoft (MSFT) moved sharply lower amid concerns about their plans to increase spending.
Traders also kept an eye on the price of crude oil, which pulled back sharply after soaring to its highest levels in four years despite lingering concerns about the Middle East conflict.
Sector News
Networking stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index spiking by 3.8 percent to a new record closing high.
Substantial strength was also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 3.7 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index.
Eli Lilly (LLY) helped lead the sector higher, soaring by 9.8 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter results and raising its full-year sale outlook.
Computer hardware, gold, telecom and semiconductor stocks also saw significant strength, while software stocks bucked the uptrend amid the steep drop by Microsoft.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged by 1.6 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries regained ground after moving notably lower over the past several sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 2.8 basis points to 4.390 percent.
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