- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
Stock markets rise on busy corporate earnings day
Stock markets rose on Thursday as investors digested a slew of company results and shrugged off a worse-than-expected US economic contraction.
In foreign exchange, the dollar traded around 20-year peaks versus the yen and at the highest level in more than five years against the euro as the Federal Reserve aggressively hikes US interest rates.
Trading is volatile across major assets as investors remain on high alert over a range of crises including the Ukraine war, surging inflation, higher interest rates and Chinese Covid lockdowns.
Attention is on the ongoing earnings season which has seen a mixed bag of results that have weighed on tech firms.
There was some cheer, however, from a forecast-beating reading by Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday, which analysts said could provide some relief to the sector.
Twitter released mixed first-quarter results Thursday, with revenues missing estimates but active users rising, three days after agreeing to be acquired by Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Apple and Amazon are also releasing quarterly results later on Thursday.
Wall Street opened higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq up 1.3 percent in early deals.
European markets were also up in afternoon trading while Asia's major markets closed higher.
"The market is going to try, try again to get some rebound momentum going to repair what has been a damaging month," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
"There is a lot of repairing that needs to be done, too," O'Hare said, noting that the major US indices were sharply down for the month.
US government data, meanwhile, showed the economy shrank by 1.4 percent in the first quarter as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and tapering of government spending hit consumers and business.
Investors are also worried about surging inflation, which is causing central banks around the globe to hike interest rates.
In Germany, consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in four decades in April, climbing to 7.4 percent, data showed Thursday.
Sweden's central bank on Thursday became the latest to lift rates, from zero to 0.25 percent.
The Federal Reserve is next week expected to lift US interest rates by half a point and signal further big increases through the year.
But the Bank of Japan decided to keep its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged on Thursday, prompting the Tokyo stock market to close higher.
So far the European Central Bank has refused to tighten borrowing costs and on Thursday ECB vice-president Luis de Guindos said a surge in eurozone consumer prices is "very close" to reaching its peak.
Soaring prices are impacting consumers and businesses everywhere.
British consumer goods giant Unilever announced a jump in revenue after it passed on higher costs to customers.
McDonald's also reported rising first-quarter sales on price hikes, though profits tumbled due to an unspecified tax issue.
In other corporate news, shares in Standard Chartered soared in London after the bank that is focused on Asia and emerging markets globally lifted its annual profits outlook after an upbeat first quarter.
- Key figures at around 1350 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 33,433.18 points
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.1 percent at 7,505.20
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 6,483.70
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.2 percent at 13,952.42
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,684.44
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 26,847.90 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.7 percent at 20,276.17 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 2,975.48 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0501 from $1.0556 late Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2434 from $1.2543
Euro/pound: UP at 84.46 pence from 84.14 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 130.70 yen from 128.43 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $104.77 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $101.97 per barrel
Y.Uduike--CPN