Investing.com – Stocks were mixed after the open bell on Thursday amid a flurry of mixed earnings results from tech companies.
The S&P 500 rose five points or 0.21% as of 9:33 AM ET (2:39 PM GMT) while the Dow composite surged 97 points or 0.42% . Tech heavy NASDAQ Composite fell by four points or 0.06%.
Social media site Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) surged 10.62% after its third quarter results came in higher than expected while Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) inched forward 1.20% after its financial results beat forecasts and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) rose 1.92%.
Meanwhile pharmaceutical company Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) dropped 18.79% after the firm cut its long-term financial guidance while communications firm Nokia (HE:NOKIA) slumped 17.64% after it reported a drop in revenue from its networks business. Telecommunications firm Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Communications fell 1.18% after it reported an increased loss of subscribers.
The U.S. labor market appears to be tightening, with jobless claims rising less than expected last week, increasing the chances of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December.
Stocks rose in Europe after the European Central Bank said it would taper its asset purchasing program in January. In Germany the DAX shot up 100 points or 0.77% while France’s CAC 40 jumped 52 points or 0.97% and in London the FTSE 100 rose 34 points or 0.45%. Spain’s IBEX 35 skyrocketed 230 points or 2.27% after news that Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont would call for a snap election, easing political tension with the central Spanish government. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 increased 33 points or 0.92%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.29% to $1,275.35 a troy ounce while crude oil futures were down 0.17% to $52.09 a barrel. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, increased 0.72% to 94.20.