Stocks Rise as Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Gain; IBM Soars, Microsoft Slumps

IBM surges 13% on strong earnings while Microsoft drops 6.2% on weak guidance. Gold, utilities and semiconductor stocks rally. Treasuries rise, pushing yields lower.

The Dow climbed 168.61 points or 0.4 percent to 44,882.13, the S&P 500 also advanced 31.86 points or 0.5 percent to 6,071.17, while the Nasdaq rose 49.43 points or 0.3 percent to 19,681.75.

IBM jumped 13% and Meta gained on strong earnings, while Microsoft fell 6.2% on weak guidance. UPS plunged 14.1% despite beating estimates and will cut Amazon shipments by 50% by 2026.

U.S. economic growth in Q4 2024 slowed more than expected. Gold stocks surged, pushing the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up 4.1%. Utilities and housing stocks were strong, with respective gains of 2.4% and 2.3%. Semiconductor stocks also jumped 2.3%, alongside strength in networking, airline, and pharmaceutical stocks. However, Microsofts sharp decline weighed on the software sector.

Asia Pacific stocks moved mostly higher on Thursday, with many markets still closed for Lunar New Year. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed by 0.6 percent. The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index increased by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved higher after ending the previous session roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 4.3 basis points to a one-month closing low of 4.51 percent.

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