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UPS down after lower-than-expected 2025 revenue forecast

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Microsoft ( MSFT ) forecast disappoints

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Indexes: Dow up 0.5%, S&P 500 up 0.5%, Nasdaq up 0.2%

(Updates to afternoon)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) -

All three major U.S. stock indexes rose on Thursday as

investors digested a stack of key earnings reports, with upbeat

comments from Tesla helping to offset a disappointing

forecast from Microsoft ( MSFT ).

All the S&P 500 sectors were higher, except for

technology, which fell 0.8%.

Tesla shares rose 3.3% and were among the biggest boosts to

the S&P 500. CEO Elon Musk vowed to launch long-awaited cheaper

models in the first half of 2025 and start testing an autonomous

ride-hailing service in June. The comments overshadowed its

quarterly results that fell short of expectations.

Also helping the S&P 500, Meta shares gained 1.4%

after the company

beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter revenue estimates but

said current-quarter sales may not meet forecasts. IBM ( IBM )

shares jumped 12.2% after the company surpassed fourth-quarter

profit expectations.

Shares of Microsoft ( MSFT ) fell 6.1% after the company

forecast disappointing growth in its cloud computing business.

Investors also took in comments from the CEOs of Meta and

Microsoft ( MSFT ) defending their heavy investments in artificial

intelligence, days after Chinese startup DeepSeek unveiled a

breakthrough in cheap AI models that rattled Wall Street and

triggered a sell-off in AI-linked stocks.

"It's the push and pull of continued strong earnings against

a backdrop of a less accommodating Federal Reserve and

persistent inflation," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice

president, advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport,

Connecticut.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 226.94

points, or 0.51%, to 44,942.34. The S&P 500 climbed 30.93

points, or 0.51%, to 6,070.24 and the Nasdaq Composite

added 42.49 points, or 0.22%, at 19,674.72.

The Fed on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged and

removed language acknowledging easing inflation from its latest

policy meeting statement.

The majority of S&P 500 companies that have reported

fourth-quarter results have beaten analysts' expectations, LSEG

data showed.

United Parcel Service ( UPS ) lost 14.3% and weighed on

the Dow Jones Transportation Average after the company

forecast 2025 revenue below expectations.

Results from Apple ( AAPL ) and Intel ( INTC ) are due

after the closing bell.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.66-to-1

ratio on the NYSE. There were 217 new highs and 42 new lows on

the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 2,990 stocks rose and 1,315 fell as

advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.27-to-1 ratio.

(Additional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta in

Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai, Shounak Dasgupta and Richard

Chang)