Market: Stocks advance after economic data

US stock market opened higher today as seen from major index futures, following the release of certain economic data. Also, against most major currencies, the dollar saw a higher trend. In the bond market, yields dropped during the morning trade after the European Central Bank said it would continue to buy Eurozone bonds and leave its key interest rates unchanged at minus 0.4%.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.81% to 2,660.90, Dow 30 gained 0.81% to 24,278.31 and Nasdaq advanced 1.49% to 7,108.42. Elsewhere, shares at Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, while European stocks are trading higher.

On April 25, US ended mixed, with Nasdaq down 0.1% to 7,003.74. Dow rose 0.3% to 24,083.83, and the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 2,639.40.

On the economic front, investors were positive after the Labor Department’s jobless claims report. Initial jobless claims fell by 24,000 to 209,000 in the week ended April 21 from 233,000 last week.

A separate Commerce Department report showed that durable goods orders increased by 2.6% in March after rising by 3.5% in February. Excluding the skyrocketing orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders remained unchanged in March after rising 0.9% in February.

On the earnings front, American Airlines Group (AAL) stock fell 4.07% after higher fuel prices crushing first-quarter earnings. General Motors (GM) stock slid 1.65% after restructuring costs dragged first-quarter earnings lower. Meanwhile, PepsiCo (PEP) moved up 0.55% after reporting upbeat first-quarter results helped by higher demand for its snacks business. AbbVie (ABBV) advanced 3.79% after better-than-expected first-quarter results on double-digit sales growth from Humira, Imbruvica, and HCV. Southwest Airlines (LUV) tumbled 3.23% after guiding a decline in second-quarter revenue.

On the trading front, Facebook (FB) stock surged 8.47% after first-quarter earnings exceeded street expectations. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stock climbed 13.18% after guiding second-quarter revenue above consensus. Criteo (CRTO) stock fell 8.55% after executive chief Eric Eichmann announced that he will be stepping down and former chief JB Rudelle will return to the CEO position. Mattersight Corp. (MATR) stock jumped 22.09% after it agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of NICE Ltd. FARO Technologies (FARO) stock plunged 17.56% after lower-than-expected first-quarter results.

Crude oil future is up 0.10% to $68.12. Gold is trading down 0.27% to $1,319.20 and silver is down 0.56% to $16.41. On the currency front, the US dollar is trading down 0.071% at 109.304 yen. Against the euro, the dollar is down 0.39% to $1.2115. Against the pound, the dollar is up 0.02% to $1.3935.