LIVE MARKETS-Wall Street gets a spring in its step from earnings

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

WALL STREET GETS A SPRING IN ITS STEP FROM EARNINGS

The S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq composite .IXIC gapped higher on Thursday as investors, who have been worried about an uncertain U.S. economy, were able to breathe a sigh of relief after financial reports from market heavyweights Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Meta Platforms META.O beat expectations.

Late on Wednesday, Microsoft forecast stronger-than-expected quarterly growth for its cloud-computing business Azure after blowout results in the latest quarter. Its shares are soaring more than 9% higher on Thursday.

And also Wednesday, social media company Meta beat analysts' first-quarter revenue estimates while matching expectations for the next quarter with strong advertising performance, calming investor concerns over tariff-related growth fears. Meta shares are jumping almost 5% in response to the report.

Their news also boosted shares of other so-called magnificent 7 stocks as they appeared to justify hefty investments related to artificial intelligence. Amazon.com AMZN.O, due to report after the bell on Thursday, is up more than 2%, while Nvidia NVDA.O is rising more than 4%.

However, not everybody is as bullish, as shares in wireless chip designer Qualcomm QCOM.O are tumbling more than 8% after it forecast third-quarter revenue below estimates, joining Snap SNAP.N and Samsung 005930.KS, which had voiced concerns about the effects of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war.

And chipmaking equipment supplier KLA Corp KLAC.O is down almost 3% even after it forecast fourth-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates late Wednesday.

Also in the not out of the woods department, Thursday's weekly jobless claims - ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls data - showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits rising to a seasonally adjusted 241,000 vs 224,000 forecast by economists for the week ended April 26 as per the Labor Department.

Of the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors a majority are on the plus-side with tech .SPLRCT leading gains, up ~3%. Four are losing ground with healthcare .SPXHC lagging most, off >1%.

Here is your snapshot from 10:25 a.m ET/ 1425 GMT

(Sinéad Carew)

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

S&P 500 INDEX BACK UP TO BATTLE 50-DMA CLICK HERE

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 'UNDULY SOLD OFF' - UBS CLICK HERE

VAGUE GUIDANCE SHIELDS STOCKS FROM TARIFF TUMBLE CLICK HERE

'THE SOONER, THE BETTER' FOR BOE TO CUT BASE RATE TO 3.5% CLICK HERE

FTSE 100 STEADY CLICK HERE

BEFORE THE BELL: LONDON GAINS AFTER STRONG US TECH RESULTS CLICK HERE