NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose early Thursday following a batch of mostly good earnings from Facebook and others but airline shares tumbled on worries about higher fuel costs.
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 24,146.19, up 0.3 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to 2,648.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.8 percent to 7,060.93.
US equity investors have alternated between enthusiasm at earnings growth and dissatisfaction that results have not been even better following a massive US tax cut overhaul last year. Adding to that ambivalence has been worry over higher interest rates.
But Facebook's results, released after the market closed on Wednesday, won strong reviews after the company reported a 63 percent rise in first-quarter profits to $5 billion, undented by a consumer data scandal.
Shares in the social media company surged nearly eight percent.
"With a compelling Capitol Hill performance by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and these strong results, we think that for the time being, the worst is very likely behind Facebook stock," said Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Graham.
Ford jumped 2.5 percent after announcing it would deepen cost cuts and phase out several sedan models in North America.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, another company that has struggled in recent quarters, surged 15.7 percent after reporting at 28.9 percent rise in first-quarter earnings to $59.5 million.
But American Airlines sank 7.7 percent after it reported a 45.2 percent drop in first-quarter earnings to $186 million and highlighted higher fuel costs as a worry.
Other carriers, including Delta Air Lines and United Continental, also fell.
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