(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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Indexes up: Dow 0.82%, S&P 500 1.28%, Nasdaq 2.28%

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General Motors ( GM ) gains after offering new forecast

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McDonald's slips after surprise drop in Q1 sales

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Weekly jobless claims higher than forecast

(Updates through late morning trade)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

May 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped to

around one-month highs on Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq

leading gains, as strong quarterly results from heavyweights

Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta pointed to a resilient outlook for the

technology sector.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) surged 9% to its highest level since late

January, driven by an upbeat quarterly growth forecast for its

cloud-computing business Azure. The jump helped the stock

surpass Apple ( AAPL ) to became the world's most valuable

company.

Meta Platforms ( META ) gained 5.6% after posting

higher-than-expected revenue on the back of a strong advertising

performance.

The ongoing tech earnings represent a "critical

inflection point" for the market, said Joe Tigay, portfolio

manager of Rational Equity Armor Fund.

"Microsoft ( MSFT ), Amazon ( AMZN ), and their peers aren't just

reporting numbers, they're revealing whether businesses are

doubling down on cloud and IT or pulling back amid trade wars

and economic uncertainty."

The fallout from erratic shifts in U.S. trade policy has

been the dominant theme this earnings season, with many

companies slashing or withdrawing their profit outlooks. Still,

S&P 500 first-quarter earnings are seen growing 12.9% on an

annual basis, per LSEG data.

Results from megacaps Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Apple ( AAPL )

are due after markets close. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares were up 2.9%.

Apple ( AAPL ) shares were little changed, lagging the rest of the

"Magnificent Seven" stocks after a federal judge ruled the

iPhone maker had violated a U.S. court order to reform its App

Store.

The S&P 500 and Dow were at nearly one-month highs,

while the Nasdaq jumped to its highest since March 28. The S&P

500 is headed for an eight-session winning streak, its best

since August, if gains hold.

At 11:44 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 333.61 points, or 0.82%, to 41,001.86, the S&P 500

gained 71.53 points, or 1.28%, to 5,640.59 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 398.64 points, or 2.28%, to 17,844.98.

Other technology megacaps also rose, with Nvidia ( NVDA ) up

4.8%. That lifted the information technology and

communication services sectors 3.3% and 2.1%,

respectively, to over one-month highs.

The day's economic data releases were mixed.

Weekly jobless claims, coming in ahead of Friday's crucial

nonfarm payrolls data, showed layoffs increased more than

expected last week, potentially hinting at a pick-up in job cuts

following tariffs.

ISM PMI data showed U.S. manufacturing contracted

further in April, though slightly less than expected by

economists polled by Reuters.

That followed Wednesday's data showing the U.S. economy

contracted for the first time in three years in the last

quarter.

Among other earnings, Eli Lilly ( LLY ) lost 10.7% after its

quarterly results, pressuring the healthcare sector,

while McDonald's dipped 0.7% after posting a surprise

drop in first-quarter global sales.

Mobile chip designer Qualcomm ( QCOM ) fell 8.3% after it

forecast a hit to revenue from the trade war.

General Motors ( GM ) gained 0.9% after offering a new

forecast for 2025 core profit.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.09-to-1

ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.68-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 33 new highs and 44 new lows.