US stock markets climbed on Thursday. When trading closed in New York, the Dow reached 52,208 points, marking a gain of 1.2 percent compared to the previous trading day. The Nasdaq 100 performed even better, closing 3.4 percent higher at 28,106 points, while the broader S&P 500 ended the day up 1.7 percent at 7,438 points.
Positive sentiment in the market was largely fueled by strong business results from Microsoft, which exceeded expectations significantly. Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, noted that cloud activities are having a particularly positive impact at Microsoft, offering relief to investors who had been uncertain. He added that investors had been too pessimistic about the software conglomerate in recent weeks, similar to the situation with SAP. Following these reports, Microsoft shares saw a jump of over 15 percent.
In currency markets, the European common currency strengthened on Thursday evening. The euro cost 1.1531 US dollars, meaning the dollar was trading at 0.8672 euros.
Commodities also showed mixed performance. The price of gold increased notably, reaching $4,114 per fine ounce in the evening, a gain of 1.1 percent, which translates to 114.72 euros per gram. Conversely, the price of oil fell. A barrel of North Sea Brent crude cost $89.15 around 8 PM German time, reflecting a decrease of 1.8 percent, or 159 cents, from the close of the previous trading session.
