2018.04.2619:57:00UTC+00Wall Street Gains on Strong Earnings Reports

Wall Street advanced sharply on Thursday, buoyed by solid quarterly results from some of the largest U.S. companies. Stocks also got a boost as interest rates fell from multi-year highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 238.51 points higher at 24,322.34, with Visa as the best-performing stock in the index. The S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to close at 2,666.94 as tech rose 2.3 percent. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.6 percent to 7,118.68. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 114.94, or 1.6 percent, to 7118.68.

Technology stocks led the way after Facebook posted a 63 percent growth in earnings and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said the company hadn't seen a “meaningful trend” of advertisers leaving the social-media platform following its data-privacy scandal. Shares surged 9.1 percent to 174.16, their best day in over two years.

Advanced Micro Devices soared 14 percent after the chip maker also posted stronger-than-expected quarterly profits.

The jump in those two stocks helped the S&P 500's technology sector to gain 2.3 percent following a six-consecutive-session of losses.

Amazon gained percent ahead of their earnings release Thursday after the close.

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. jumped 24 percent after analysts at several investment banks improved their price targets following a strong earnings reports on Wednesday.

On a downbeat note, eBay Inc. lost 5.6 percent after the online marketplace reported a downbeat outlook in its earnings out late Wednesday. AT&T Inc. dropped six percent after the company missed profit and sales forecasts. The stock was the biggest loser among Dow components.