U.S. stocks rally on strong tech earnings

U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday after better-than-expected quarterly results from three tech giants and dovish remarks from European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 81.71 points, or 0.47 percent, to 17,570.87. The S&P 500 gained 14.11 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,066.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 85.37 points, or 1.74 percent, to 5,005.42.

Wall Street cheered over positive earnings from tech giants Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft, and high expectations of further easing from the ECB.

Alphabet, parent of Google, reported better-than-expected profits for the third quarter and announced a buyback after the Thursday's closing bell. Its stock surged more than 7 percent in the early trading on Friday.

Shares of Amazon.com also jumped over 7 percent in the early session of Friday, after the company reported a profit on stronger sales.

Microsoft also soared more than 10 percent on Friday after it posted a strong performance on both profits and revenues.

Overseas, European equities continued to trade higher Friday after the ECB left interest rates unchanged.

"The asset purchases are proceeding smoothly and continue to have a favorable impact on the cost and availability of credit for firms and households," said Draghi at a press conference held after the meeting.

Some analysts believed that Draghi's comments suggested the ECB is prepared to undertake further stimulus for the euro zone.

In Asia, Chinese shares closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.3 percent to end at 3,412.43 points.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, decided on Friday to cut the reserve requirement ratio of banks, and benchmark interest rates.

U.S. stocks posted solid gains Thursday, as investor sentiment was buoyed by dovish message from Draghi. Enditem