Global stocks lifted by solid quarterly earnings results
Tech earnings power Wall Street higher; the euro weakens after the ECB gives no indication of ending its quantitative easing programme
New York — A gauge of global equities advanced on Thursday, boosted by a slew of solid quarterly earnings in Europe and the US, while the euro weakened in the wake of comments by European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi. Technology stocks jumped 2.28%, led by gains in Facebook, up 8.94% and Visa, up 4.26%, after their quarterly results. Facebook reported a surprisingly strong 63% rise in profit and an increase in users, with no sign the business was hurt by a scandal over the mishandling of personal data. Its shares were on track for their best day in over two years. Also supporting equities was a drop in the 10-year US treasury yield below the 3% mark, as a fall in domestic core capital goods orders in March was offset by a decline in jobless benefit filings to their lowest level in more than 48 years. "A slight pullback in yields is likely to give investors a chance to focus on corporate results," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities ...
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