By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks opened higher as tech companies led by Meta Platforms Inc posted positive results, allowing investors to shake off negative news on economic output.
At 10:10 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 93 points or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.6%.
Shares of Meta (NASDAQ:FB), the parent of Facebook, bounced 14% in premarket trading on Thursday after it reported a better than expected rise in users in the quarter and at least didn’t disappoint on revenue. The company did say based on growth trends it would slow investments in some areas. The stock was up 13% in the morning session.
Investors had been bracing for worse. At Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), revenue fell short of estimates but average daily usage rose nearly 16%. Elon Musk is taking the social media company private, and because of that, it won't be providing future guidance. The shares were down 0.2%.
Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its Covid-19 vaccine for children aged six months to 5 years. Shares dipped 1.8%.
Later on Thursday, reports from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and others will help set the tone heading into the weekend.
The first quarter reading on GDP was another issue. It was a negative 1.4%, which missed expectations for a 1.1% gain. It was also well below the previous reading of 6.9%. But the trade deficit and high inflation may be reasons for the weaker number. Consumer spending rose at an annualized 2.7% rate, a positive sign that growth can resume.
The Federal Reserve meets next week to try and tackle the inflation issue by raising interest rates an expected half-point.
Oil prices were flat in early trading. Crude Oil WTI Futures was priced around $101.95 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude ticked up 0.2% to $104.77. Gold Futures was also flat at $1,888 an ounce.