Analysts were quick to add to the optimistic tenor, with several large firms including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley raising their price targets on Meta.

Despite the drop in molnupiravir sales, Merck’s revenue and adjusted earnings for the first quarter beat Wall Street’s expectations.

Bob Parker, senior advisor at International Capital Markets Association, said investor confusion appeared to be emerging as a big theme in financial markets.

Stocks rose Thursday, as strong results from Meta Platforms boosted tech-related names, and investors weighed the latest data on the U.S. economy.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia “won’t get away with this crime” after the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv was hit by missiles.

TotalEnergies said on Thursday it had accepted an offer to sell its carbon-heavy Canadian oil sands operations to Suncor Energy for $4.1 billion.

Samsung’s profit plunged in the first quarter of 2023 as prices for memory chips continued to fall and demand remained weak.

Both local and foreign buyers of residential properties will now have to pay higher additional buyers’ stamp duties, which will take effect from today.

A proposal for the biggest shake-up in pharma rules for decades has finally arrived, but companies say they could take their innovative medicines elsewhere.

London-based bank Barclays reported first quarter results ahead of consensus on Thursday, with income boosted by higher rates and credit cards.