Wall Street's main indexes are trading higher in early trading Thursday as investors drew comfort from strong earnings, even as fears about an escalation in the Middle East conflict deepened.

Data released on Thursday showed that U.S. economic growth picked up in ‌the first quarter on a rebound in government spending, but the increase is likely ​temporary as the war with Iran drives up gasoline prices and squeezes household budgets.

Investors have been struggling to reconcile with competing narratives, with upbeat earnings on one ⁠hand and worsening Middle East tensions on the other.

Big Tech earnings were largely strong, with shares ​of Google parent Alphabet rising 7.3% in premarket trading following a record quarter for its cloud unit, ⁠while Amazon added 3.4% after exceeding cloud sales expectations.

However, Meta Platforms and Microsoft fell 8.4% and 0.8%, respectively, a day after they laid out theircapital spending plans.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 544.40 points, or 1.11%, at 49,406.21 as of 10:23 a.m. EST, while the S&P 500 was edging higher by 7.97 points, or 0.11%, to 7,143.92. The Nasdaq was the laggard, down 94.90 points, or 0.38%, at 24,578.34.

Investors were ​also assessing commentary ‌from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday. The central bank voted to keep interest rates unchanged, but three officials signaled that inflation was too high ‌to signal a bias toward rate cuts.

Brent crude futures hit their highest in nearly four years on fears of a protracted disruption in oil markets, after an Axios report said President ⁠Donald Trump was slated to receive a briefing ‌from the leader of the U.S. ⁠Central Command on new plans for potential military action against Iran.

"There also appears to be an increased urgency from the Trump ⁠administration to ⁠bring things to a head," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Oil prices retreated from their peaks, but remain elevated, above $110 ‌a barrel.

The Axios report undermined weeks of optimism that diplomatic efforts to resolve the U.S.-Iran war would stay on track despite setbacks.

"The oil market has moved from over-optimism to the reality of the supply disruption. The ‌breakdown of talks ​between the U.S. and Iran... has ‌the market losing hope for any quick resumption in oil flows," said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Economics.

Among other stocks, Eli Lilly gained 6.4% after the drugmaker ​lifted its annual profit forecast on sustained weight-loss drug demand.

Caterpillar shares rose 7.5% after the construction and mining equipment maker reported higher first-quarter profit.