U.S. stocks are rising after strong reports from Microsoft, Boeing

Investing.com — U.S. stocks were rising, boosted by technology stocks after Microsoft beat expectations.

At 9:47 ET (13:47 GMT), the was up 52 points or 0.2%, while the was up 0.2% and the was up 0.7%.

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) rose 7% after it stronger-than-expected numbers for the quarter and said it was boosting efforts in artificial intelligence. Alphabet (NASDAQ:) (NASDAQ:), the parent of Google and a rival in the AI race, also expectations, and shares rose 0.7%.

Boeing Co (NYSE:) shares were up 3.6% after the plane maker expectations and said it would raise production of its 737 MAX jets this year.

Analysts have grown more optimistic about earnings season, now expecting a 3.9% drop in profit for the S&P 500 group. At the beginning of earnings season the outlook was for a 5.2% drop.

In economic data, rose 3.2% in March, beating the expectation for a rise of 0.7%.

Shares of First Republic Bank (NYSE:) slid another 17%. The stock has been slammed this week amid renewed concerns about the banking sector after the bank said $100 billion of deposits left in the first quarter.

The Federal Reserve is closely watching corporate earnings as well as economic data this week as it heads into its next policy meeting next week. Futures traders the central bank to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point next week and then pause at the June meeting as the economy cools.

Oil was falling. were down 1.5% to $75.94 a barrel, while were down 1.6% to $79.29 a barrel. were up 0.5% to $2,014.