Strong earnings from tech giants and Apple's upbeat statement on its iPhone X demand lifted the Nasdaq Composite index 2 percent and led the gains on Wall Street. Amazon jumped as much 12.8 percent after reporting a quarterly sales surge. Google-parent Alphabet gained 6.4 percent as its revenue got a boost from advertising sales.
Microsoft advanced 7.3 percent after the world's largest software company reported further gains from its cloud computing services. Apple rose 3.4 percent after the company allayed concerns of muted demand for its 10th anniversary phone. The gains drove the S&P technology index up about 3 percent. The sector has gained about 35 percent this year, double the gains in the broader S&P index. "In many ways, we're seeing the strong getting stronger," said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at the Private Client Reserve at US Bank. "While valuations are full, it certainly becomes imperative on them to deliver solid operating results and that's something that we did see."
Adding to the positive sentiment was the third-quarter GDP data that showed the US economy unexpectedly maintained a brisk pace of growth, despite a hurricane-led drop in consumer spending and construction activities. A report about President Donald Trump favouring Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the head of the US central bank also supported the stocks. In Powell's appointment, investors see a continuation of the current stock market-friendly monetary policy.
At 12:24 p.m. ET (1624 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 30.2 points, or 0.13 percent, at 23,431.06, the S&P 500 was up 19.07 points, or 0.74 percent, at 2,579.47 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 132.19 points, or 2.02 percent, at 6,688.96. Chevron's 3.8 percent dip weighed on the S&P and the Dow after the oil giant's profit missed estimates.
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