Stocks Rose Thanks to Mostly Positive Corporate Earnings

U.S. stocks jumped on Wednesday as the corporate earnings season kicked off with mostly positive results, and traders analyzed inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 344.23 points or 1.01% to 34,564.59, accelerating gains in the final hour of trading. The S&P 500 advanced 1.12% to 4,446.59. Moreover, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.03% to 13,643.59. Those moves come after the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 posted their third straight session on Tuesday amid March’s CPI showing the highest inflation since 1981. 

Wednesday’s moves come as corporate earnings figure more significantly for investors. They are looking for clues on how well companies are managing inflationary pressures. Delta Air Lines and Fastenal traded higher on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results. Delta Air Lines also got a boost after Delta said it expects to return to profitability this quarter. 

Other travel stocks also jumped as a group thanks to Delta’s higher forecast, which indicated passengers will continue flying this year in spite of higher fares. American Airlines jumped 10.6%, and Southwest Airlines rose 7.5%. 

Travel shopping company Expedia gained about 4.9% and cruise operator Carnival Corporation added 5.4%. Hotel operator Marriott gained more than 7.5%. 

Chip stocks also rose on Wednesday. Nvidia added nearly 2.3%, Qualcomm advanced 3.2%, and Advanced Micro Devices rose about 2.8%.

Chinese stocks on Thursday

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday. Mainland Chinese stocks rose on Thursday. The Shanghai composite gained 1.22% to close at 3,225.64. The Shenzhen component advanced 1.266% to 11,714.62.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.67% to finish its trading day at 21,518.08. Hong Kong-listed shares of CNOOC gained 0.87%. 

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 1.22% to 27,172. The Topix index rose 0.95% to end its trading day at 1,908.05. 

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.59% to 7,523.40. In March, the country’s unemployment rate remained at 4%.