US stocks rise led by the technology sector

United States stocks rose on Thursday as Amazon.com Inc and Netflix Inc surged to record highs, although trading was choppy as investors worried about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on first-quarter earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.14 percent to end that day at 23,537.68. The widely used gauge of retirement and educational savings accounts, the S&P 500, 0.58 percent to end at 2,799.55. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.66 percent to close at 8,532.36.

Amazon.com and Netflix rose as sweeping stay-at-home orders drove demand for online streaming services and home delivery of goods.

Boeing Co fell 8 percent, limiting gains in the Dow, as its European rival, Airbus, said it was examining requests to defer deliveries after a collapse in travel demand.

Meanwhile, the shutdown in New York was extended until May 15, even as coronavirus-related hospitalisations and deaths fell to their lowest in more than a week, adding to evidence that the hardest-hit state was controlling its spread.

“We’re not going to see a V-shaped recovery, and I think investors will eventually realise that, so it’s premature to call a bottom in stocks at this stage,” said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates Inc, an investment advisory firm based in Toledo, Ohio.

At his Thursday evening briefing, President Trump is expected to lay out a plan for some states to reopen their economies before May 1.