Microsoft and Meta Platforms led Wall Street higher Thursday after the Big Tech companies reported profits for the start of the year that were even bigger than analysts expected.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% for an eighth straight gain, its longest winning streak since August. The Dow Jones industrial average added 83 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5%.

Microsoft rallied 7.6% after the software giant said strength in its cloud computing and artificial intelligence businesses drove its overall revenue up 13% from a year earlier.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also topped analysts’ targets for revenue and profit in the latest quarter. It said AI tools helped boost its advertising revenue, and its stock climbed 4.2%.

They’re two of the most influential stocks within the S&P 500 and other indexes because of their massive sizes, and they weren’t alone. CVS Health, Carrier Global and a bevy of other companies also joined the stream of better-than-expected profit reports that have helped steady Wall Street over the last week.

The S&P 500 is back to within 9% of its record set earlier this year, after briefly dropping nearly 20% below the mark.

General Motors cut its forecast for profit in 2025 and its stock slipped 0.4%. McDonald’s fell 1.9% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, even though its profit was slightly above forecasts.

On Thursday, a couple reports about the economy came in mixed, following up on several recent updates that suggested it’s weakening.

The first of the reports said more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than economists had forecast. A later update said U.S. manufacturing activity was better last month than economists had feared, though it still contracted again.

In the bond market, Treasury yields swiveled following Thursday’s economic reports. The yield on the 10-year Treasury initially fell below 4.13% after the worse-than-expected update on joblessness. But it later trimmed its losses following the better-than-expected report on manufacturing and rallied to 4.21%. That’s up from 4.17% late Wednesday.

Stocks were steadier and held onto their gains through the day after opening higher. All told, the S&P 500 rose 35.08 points to 5,604.14. The Dow added 83.60 to 40,752.96, and the Nasdaq composite gained 264.40 to 17,710.74.

In stock markets abroad, trading was closed in many countries for May Day, or international Labor Day holidays.

— Associated Press