U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, building on a three-day winning streak, as investors assessed a new batch of corporate earnings and economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 268.44 points to pause for lunch hour Thursday at 30,992.04.
The S&P 500 took on 26.97 points to 3,857.14, supported by energy and financials.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 91.24 points to 13,701.78,
EBay jumped more than 10% after beating on both the top and bottom lines and issuing a rosier-than-expected forecast for the first quarter.
PayPal gained more than 6% after strong quarterly results, while Qualcomm slipped over 7% after reporting revenues below consensus estimates for its fiscal first quarter.
Apple rose 1% after a report it is close to finalizing a deal with Hyundai-Kia to produce driverless cars. News that the two may be close to a deal comes after Hyundai said in January that it was in preliminary talks with the iPhone maker to develop a car.
The moves on Wall Street followed three straight positive sessions for the major averages as the speculative retail trading mania faded. So far this week, the blue-chip Dow has gained more than 3%, while the S&P 500 grabbed 3.6%, and the NASDAQ has risen 4.5%.
A better-than-expected jobless claims report helped boost sentiment. First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 779,000 for the week ended Jan. 30, below the 830,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
On the stimulus front, Democrats are moving forward with President Joe Biden's $1.9-trillion COVID-19 relief proposal. Republicans have countered with a more modest $618-billion package, which includes new stimulus checks of $1,000 per person.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys regained lost ground, lowering yields to Wednesday's 1.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced 23 cents to $55.92 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dumped $46.00 to $1,789.10 U.S. an ounce.