NEW YORK: The Nasdaq tumbled early Thursday following weak results from Facebook parent Meta, but the Dow rallied on positive reports from McDonald’s, Caterpillar and others.

Meta plunged 22.8 percent as it reported much lower profits amid stagnating user numbers and cuts in advertising budgets.

The results come on the heels of weak earnings from Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft and ahead of reports Thursday from Apple and Amazon.

Offsetting those returns were better-than-expected results from McDonald’s, up 3.6 percent and Caterpillar, up 8.3 percent.

Near 1515 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.3 percent at 32,244.48.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 3,840.09, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.5 percent to 10,913.44.

Nasdaq falls as weak Big Tech earnings fan growth concerns; Visa buoys Dow

The Nasdaq lost two percent on Wednesday, weighed down by Google and Microsoft.

On Thursday, government data showed the US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the July to September period.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank announced another jumbo interest rate hike on Thursday and said further increases would follow to combat soaring inflation.

US indices have risen three of the last four days on improving sentiment due to expectations that the Federal Reserve could soon pivot from its aggressive monetary policy posture.

A smaller-than-expected rate hike Wednesday from the Bank of Canada boosted hopes for a similar shift soon from the Fed.