Morning Report 8 May 20: Stocks advance as investors await US employment report

US sharemarkets were higher on Thursday, with returns for the Nasdaq index turning positive for the year. Shares of tech giants Apple, Facebook and Alphabet rose by 1.0%-1.8%. Shares of PayPal jumped by 14.0% after the company said it expects a strong recovery in payment volumes in the second quarter as social distancing drives more people to shop online. Shares of media company ViacomCBS rose by 10.4% after reporting solid first quarter earnings. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was up 211 points or 0.9%. The S&P500 index was up by 1.2% and the Nasdaq index lifted 125 points or 1.4%.

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