A currency trader walks near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Asian shares rose Thursday and U.S. futures also were higher after President Joe Biden delivered a speech to Congress that outlined ambitious plans for jobs creating spending on early education, child care and other public services.
Currency traders watch computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Asian shares rose Thursday and U.S. futures also were higher after President Joe Biden delivered a speech to Congress that outlined ambitious plans for jobs creating spending on early education, child care and other public services.
A currency trader walks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Asian shares rose Thursday and U.S. futures also were higher after President Joe Biden delivered a speech to Congress that outlined ambitious plans for jobs creating spending on early education, child care and other public services.
A currency trader walks near near the screens showing the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ), left bottom, and the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Asian shares rose Thursday and U.S. futures also were higher after President Joe Biden delivered a speech to Congress that outlined ambitious plans for jobs creating spending on early education, child care and other public services.
A currency trader watches computer monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Asian shares rose Thursday and U.S. futures also were higher after President Joe Biden delivered a speech to Congress that outlined ambitious plans for jobs creating spending on early education, child care and other public services.
The banner for Endeavor hangs on the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 29, 2021, in New York. The company behind Hollywood talent agency WME, the Miss Universe contest, and the mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship is having its IPO at the exchange Thursday.
The banner for Endeavor hangs on the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 29, 2021, in New York. The company behind Hollywood talent agency WME, the Miss Universe contest, and the mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship is having its IPO at the exchange Thursday.
In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel, fourth left, rings the NYSE opening bell, to celebrate his company’s IPO, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Stocks edged mostly higher in midday trading Thursday, helped by big technology companies that reported strong results overnight and more economic data pointing to a solid recovery.
U.S. stocks moved higher in afternoon trading Thursday after shaking off an early pullback as investors weigh the latest batch of corporate earnings reports and economic data.
A report showing that the U.S. economy grew sharply in the first quarter is among the latest data pointing to a diminishing impact from the pandemic. Other upbeat reports included data showing that more Americans were signing contracts to buy homes in March after two months of declines.
The S&P 500 index was up 0.5% as of 2:16 p.m. Eastern, with gains by communication and financial companies outweighing a slide in health care and technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 157 points, or 0.5%, to 33,975 and the Nasdaq added 0.1%.
Big risks to the market include rising inflation getting out of hand and any aspect of the virus pandemic worsening and throwing off the economic recovery, said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.
“Without one of those two, the macroeconomic direction seems clear,” he said.
Investors got a dose of big technology earnings overnight from the likes of Apple, Facebook, Qualcomm and others. Tech stocks drove much of the rally in 2020 and are still highly valued to investors, who are betting that the pandemic made a permanent shift in how Americans shopped and entertained themselves.
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