NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are rising Friday morning, led by gains in technology companies after Microsoft reported healthy growth in its cloud computing business. Visa and MasterCard also rose sharply after reporting strong earnings. European markets also rose, and Asian indexes climbed after Japan’s central bank announced more aggressive moves to stimulate that country’s economy.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 189 points, or 1.2 percent, to 16,262 as of 10:35 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 20 points, or 1 percent, to 1,913. The Nasdaq composite rose 57 points, or 1.3 percent, to 4,563.
OPENING WINDOWS: Microsoft added $2.73, or 5.2 percent, to $54.78 after its fourth-quarter profit and revenue beat expectations. The company posted strong results from its cloud computing business and the unit that sells PC software and Surface tablets and Xbox gaming consoles.
AMAZON SINKS: The e-commerce company said its profit more than doubled, but it still fell short of Wall Street forecasts because of increased costs. Some of those related to its Fulfillment by Amazon service, which handles shipping for sellers and makes them eligible for Amazon Prime shipping. The stock lost $53.84, 8.5 percent, to $581.51.
THE ECONOMY: The Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product slowed down in the fourth quarter and grew only 0.7 percent. The agency said consumers spent less, businesses invested less, and exports were down because of global instability.