By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday as corporate earnings continued to roll in, with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) shares providing a lift to markets.
At 9:43 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 237, or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 was up 1% and the NASDAQ Composite rose 1.7%.
Tesla shares rose 10% after reporting better than expected results Wednesday evening. And United Airlines rose nearly 11% after forecasting a return to profitability this year.
Shares of AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) also rose 3% on Thursday after beating expectations.
Investors are awaiting two public appearances by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell today, first at a meeting of the Volcker Alliance and later at the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, where he is scheduled to take part in a panel about the global economy.
It's just a few weeks until the central bank meets again and is largely expected to raise interest rates and set a policy for reducing its $9 trillion balance sheet.
Jobless claims fell last week to their lowest in more than 50 years, another indication of a strong job market. Companies have said they are having trouble filling available jobs, something the Fed is also watching as it tries to combat rising inflation. The Fed's periodic survey of economic conditions in its regional banks, which came out on Wednesday, said hiring has been muted by a lack of available workers.
Crude oil was also rising on Thursday. Crude Oil WTI Futures was up 1.8%, to $104 a barrel, and Brent Oil Futures crude, the international standard, was up 1.6% to $108 a barrel. Gold Futures was down 0.5%, to $1946/oz.