Wall Street indexes opened higher on Thursday, following strong results from Micron Technology, as the markets absorbed the U.S. first quarter growth report, which came in weaker than expected.
About 20 minutes after trading began, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.5 percent to reach 43201.07 points.
The broad S&P 500 index rose by 0.3 percent to reach 6109.69 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.1 percent to reach 19995.85 points.
Micron's earnings have surpassed five times their level during the same period last year, as the technology company indicated significant growth in its data center business and mentioned that it expects to achieve record revenues.
Micron's shares saw a rise at the beginning of Thursday, along with shares of Nvidia, another company that has made significant gains in the field of artificial intelligence, boosting optimism about AI at a time when investors are evaluating a range of economic data.
Steve Sosnick from Interactive Brokers said, "The market seems to be impressed with Micron's earnings and guidance." Absent any major news currently, the market appears to lean towards buying technology.
At the same time, data showed that the U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.5 percent during the first quarter, a decline greater than previous GDP estimates.