- The Nasdaq closed 0.2% higher at 14,083 on Thursday.
- Amazon exceeded expectations for Q1 including revenues at US$108bn.
- Twitter missed analyst expectations on user growth for Q1.
The US markets closed higher on Thursday after President Joe Biden delivered his first formal address to Congress where he laid out his US$1.8 trillion proposal for new spending on education and called for a broad reshaping of American society.
The Dow Jones rose 0.7% to finish the trading day up 240 points to close at 34,060 points. The S&P500 rose 0.68% to a new record high 4211.47.
The tech heavy NASDAQ rose 0.2% to finish the trading day up 32 points to close at 14,083 points with Facebook and Netflix gaining 7.3% and 0.49% respectively.
One bitcoin is worth US$53,594 going into the Asian trading day.
The Australian dollar is firm against the major currencies and is buying 77.76 US cents.
Amazon capped off a big tech earnings week by smashing all expectations for Q1 results including revenues at US$108.52 bn compared to an expected US$104.47bn. Amazon web services net sales soared 32% YoY to US$13.5bn.
Twitter stocks plunged on Thursday after missing user and other expectations for the first quarter. The social media giant reported revenue of US$1.04bn, up 28% from the same period a year earlier. However, Twitter missed expectations for daily monetizable users growth at 199 million, just shy of the expected 200 million.
And the New York Police Department has terminated its contract with Boston Dynamics for Spot the robo-dog after public criticism that Spot brought an overaggressive approach to police enforcement.