U.S. stocks traded mostly higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 1% on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 1.29% to 49,489.79 while the NASDAQ fell 0.01% to 24,673.01. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.37% to 7,162.03.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrials shares jumped by 2.2% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, information technology stocks fell by 1.1%.

Top Headline

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2026 results.

The company's sales surged 22% year over year to $17.4 billion. Adjusted profit per share of $5.54 beat the $4.62 estimate, while GAAP profit per share was $5.47.

Equities Trading UP
           

  • Bandwidth Inc (NASDAQ:BAND) shares shot up 38% to $33.34 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its FY26 sales guidance above estimates.
  • Shares of Everspin Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:MRAM) got a boost, surging 38% to $18.16 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results. The company announced a $40 million U.S. defense contract.
  • Vistance Networks Inc (NASDAQ:VISN) shares were also up, gaining 23% to $12.88 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly sales results.

Equities Trading DOWN

  • Climb Global Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:CLMB) shares dropped 20% to $17.01 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter adjusted EPS results.
  • Shares of MediaAlpha Inc (NYSE:MAX) were down 17% to $8.26 following weak quarterly earnings.
  • Option Care Health Inc (NASDAQ:OPCH) was down, falling 31% to $18.62 after the company reported mixed first-quarter financial results and cut its FY26 sales guidance below estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.1% to $104.60 while gold traded up 1.5% at $4,630.70.

Silver traded up 2.1% to $73.610 on Thursday, while copper rose 0.4% to $5.9570.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.3%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.8%. London's FTSE 100 gained 1.6%, Germany's DAX rose 1.3% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.5% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 1.06%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.11%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.28% and India's BSE Sensex declining 0.75%.

Economics

  • U.S. employment costs climbed by 0.9% in the first quarter following a 0.7% gain in the prior period.
  • U.S. personal spending surged by 0.9% month-over-month in March following a revised 0.6% gain in February.
  • U.S. personal income increased by 0.6% month-over-month in March after showing no growth in the previous month.
  • U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 26,000 from the previous week to 189,000 in the week ending April 25, compared to market estimates of 215,000.
  • The U.S. PCE price index increased 0.7% month-over-month in March following February's 0.4% gain.

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