Microsoft and Meta Platforms lead Wall Street higher

Microsoft and Meta Platforms led Wall Street higher Thursday after the Big Tech companies reported profits for the start of the year that were even bigger than analysts expected. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% for an eighth straight gain, its longest winning streak since August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 83 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5%.

Microsoft rallied 7.6% after the software giant said strength in its cloud computing and artificial intelligence businesses drove its overall revenue up 13% from a year earlier.

Meta,…