Wall Street recovered on Thursday, as upbeat Chinese trade data and strong earnings results helped lift investor sentiment.
The Dow rose 79 points or 0.3% by 9:43 AM ET (13:43 GMT), while the S&P 500 gained 15 points or 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite was up 47 points or 0.6%.
Trade-related worries died down slightly after better-than-expected Chinese data calmed investors, defying the increasing pressure from U.S. tariffs. China’s exports rose 3.3% in July, while imports fell 5.6% on the year, less than expected. The data helped ease concerns over a currency war after China let its yuan slide to its lowest in over a decade.
Not all the news was positive. Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) slumped 15.5% after its profit in the first half of the year fell over 50% due to yet another goodwill impairment charge, on top of those taken earlier this year. Its results were delayed after an internal investigation found a lapse in procedures by some of its employees.
Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) jumped 7.9% after reporting a 72% jump in revenue due to more active riders, higher average prices and better cost control. Rival Uber (NYSE:UBER) rose 6.9% in sympathy and is expected to release its financial results after the close.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) gained 1.4% after it scored a deal with Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss, while shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) were up 1.7% after Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) upgraded its shares to "outperform" due to the positive reception for its recently-announced video streaming service.
Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) declined 17.6% after it said its new home-flipping business, Zillow Offers, would lose up to $80 million in the current quarter as it scales up.
In commodities, crude oil gained 2.3% to $52.26 a barrel while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, inched up 0.1% to 97.417. Gold futures fell 1% to $1,504.96 a troy ounce.
