Wall Street stocks rallied and gold prices slid on Thursday as solid earnings from big tech bolstered investor risk appetite. All three major U.S. stock indexes began the month with solid gains, with upbeat quarterly results from Meta Platforms and Microsoft benefiting the Nasdaq most,

World stocks were groggy on Thursday after a contraction in the U.S. economy, although Wall Street was pointing higher and the dollar sprang up as a Bank of Japan growth forecast cut blamed on U.S. trade tariffs yanked the yen lower.