US stocks rose on Thursday after two days of declines as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs shares shot up following upbeat quarterly results, while Taiwan-based chipmaker TSMC's blockbuster results boosted shares of US chipmakers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 292.81 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 49,442.44, the S&P 500 gained 17.87 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 6,944.47 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 58.27 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 23,530.02. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both reported a rise in quarterly profit, helped by a flurry of dealmaking. Shares of Goldman rose 4.6 per cent, giving the Dow its biggest boost, and Morgan Stanley gained 5.8 per cent.
Earlier this week, other banks reported mixed results that weighed on the sector, along with worries about US President Donald Trump's proposed one-year cap that would limit credit-card interest rates to 10 per cent. Results from the banks essentially have kicked off the fourth-quarter US earnings season. The season picks up steam next week with a more diverse group of companies set to report.
Tech stocks rise
Tech stocks also rose, led by chipmakers. The world's main producer of advanced artificial intelligence chips, TSMC, predicted robust annual growth and flagged more US manufacturing capacity was in the works. Richly valued tech and growth stocks have lost some momentum recently as investors kicked off the year by chasing bargains.
