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 11:49 ET (15:49 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 1.2%.

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 8% after it reported stronger-than-expected numbers for the quarter and said it was boosting efforts in artificial intelligence. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent of Google and a rival in the AI race, also beat expectations, and shares rose 0.7%.

Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) shares were up 3.4% after the plane maker beat 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, durable goods orders rose 3.2% in March, beating the expectation for a rise of 0.7%.

Shares of First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) slid another 17.5%. 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 expect 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.