NEW YORK (AFP): Wall Street stocks rose early Thursday, following strong earnings from Facebook parent Meta despite disappointing first-quarter US economic data.
About 30 minutes into trading, Meta was up around 15 percent, while all three major US indices were in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 percent to 33,526.80.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent to 4,087.37, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.9 percent to 11,960.26.
Meta reported a profit of $5.7 billion in the first quarter of this year, beating forecasts after a massive wave of cost-cutting and layoffs.
“Stocks are up mainly on Meta’s earnings and the banking side of things seems to be a little bit calmer today,” said LBBW’s Karl Haeling.
Among other companies reporting results, American Airlines gained 4.8 percent, Southwest Airlines dropped 5.2 percent, Caterpillar lost 3.5 percent and Norfolk Southern dipped 0.2 percent.
US gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 1.1 percent in the January to March period, markedly less than expected and down from 2.6 percent in the final three months last year.
The figures reflected a decline in private inventory investment offset by a jump in consumer spending.
