Microsoft Stock Price Rises 2.6 Percent

On Wall Street, stock prices slightly increased on Thursday after three days of decline, with cautious trading as there were no news to significantly move the market.

The Dow Jones rose by 27 points, or 0.18 percent, to 15,498 points, while the S&P 500 increased by 0.39 percent to 1,697 points, and the Nasdaq index by 0.41 percent to 3,669 points.

The rise in the indices was primarily driven by the increase in stock prices in the technology sector. The S&P index for that sector rose by 0.4 percent, with Microsoft stock price jumping by 2.6 percent.

The index growth is also attributed to the continuation of a series of better-than-expected quarterly business reports from companies.

Of the 442 companies in the S&P 500 index that have reported so far, 67 percent exceeded analysts’ expectations regarding earnings, and 53.6 percent regarding revenues.

However, analysts’ expectations are very low, so only solid business reports have not managed to significantly boost the index.

Moreover, investors are uncertain following announcements from Fed officials that the U.S. central bank could begin reducing its $85 billion monthly government and mortgage bond purchase programs as early as September, which investors fear could lead to a loss of strong market support.

Macroeconomic data did not impress yesterday either. Although less than expected, the number of unemployment claims in the U.S. rose last week, indicating that the labor market recovery is not spectacular.

Investor caution is indicated by the thin trading volume. On Wall Street, NYSE MKT, and Nasdaq, 5.8 billion shares changed hands yesterday, while the average daily volume this year is 6.35 billion.

In addition, stock prices rose yesterday on most European exchanges. The London FTSE index increased by 0.28 percent to 6,529 points, while the Frankfurt DAX rose by 0.70 percent to 8,318 points, and the Paris CAC by 0.64 percent to 4,064 points.