US stocks jump after big-tech earnings from Microsoft don't disappoint

• US stocks jumped on Wednesday after strong earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet.
• Microsoft surged 8% after it reported solid growth in its cloud division and talked about its opportunity in AI.
• Alphabet reported that its cloud division generated a quarterly profit for the first time ever.

US stocks jumped on Wednesday, partly offsetting Tuesday's losses, after big-tech earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet impressed investors.

Shares of Microsoft surged 8% after the company reported solid growth in its Azure Cloud division and talked up the potential it sees in artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Alphabet said its Google Cloud division generated a quarterly profit for the first time on record.

So far, 28% of S&P 500 companies have reported first-quarter results. Of those companies, 78% beat profit estimates by a median of 7%, while 71% beat revenue estimates by a median of 4%, according to data from Fundstrat.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET opening bell on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 4,081.41, up 0.24%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,612.53, up 0.24% (81.70 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,904.09, up 0.89%

Here's what else is happening this morning:

• Activision Blizzard fell 9% after a UK regulator said it would block the proposed merger between the video game company and Microsoft.
• Peter Lynch gave credit to Warren Buffett for investing in Apple stock when he didn't, even though he saw a big profit opportunity for the iPod over a decade ago.
• Tesla has lost $140 billion in market value in under a month after it reported earnings and implemented price cuts for its vehicles.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.88% to $76.39 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped 1.20% to $79.80.
• Gold rose 0.27% to $2,009.90 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell one basis point to 3.38%.
• Bitcoin jumped 5.36% to $29,837, while ether rose 4.87% to $1,954.