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- US stocks closed mixed Thursday. Tech stocks added to early gains.
- The Nasdaq Composite surged more than 2% as markets cheered the Fed's toned-down rate hike.
- Investors were bracing for earnings from Alphabet, Amazon and Apple after the closing bell.
US stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as investors turned their focus to a handful of key earnings reports due from mega-cap tech firms after the closing bell.
The Nasdaq Composite added to gains earlier in the session, and ended the day higher by more than 3%. Tech stocks climbed since Wednesday when comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell that were heard by Wall Street as a sign that that central bank is getting ready to end its rate-hiking campaign.