Dow Jones News: Disney+ Hits 50 Million Subscribers; Massive Surge in Microsoft Teams Usage

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) staged a modest rally on Thursday, up 1.9% at 12:40 p.m. EDT. While a report from the Labor Department put the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week at 6.6 million, additional actions from the Federal Reserve to support the economy during the pandemic appear to be offsetting that bad news.

The Fed announced on Thursday a $2.3 trillion lending program, including $600 billion aimed at small and medium-size businesses, $500 billion targeting state and local governments, and an expansion of some existing credit facilities. As part of this move, the Fed will now buy exchange-traded bond funds that track bonds rated below investment grade.

Shares of Disney (NYSE: DIS) surged on Thursday after the company announced a huge increase in Disney+ subscribers. The stock of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) failed to participate in the rally, despite the company disclosing a tenfold increase in usage for its Teams collaboration product.

Source Fool.com