US STOCKS-Wall Street gains with PayPal boost despite weak jobs data

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* PayPal jumps on strong payments recovery forecast
* Lyft surges on revenue beat, cost cuts
* Millions more Americans file for jobless benefits

(Updates to close of U.S. market)
By Lewis Krauskopf
May 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's indexes climbed on Thursday
following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports led by PayPal as
investors looked past more weak jobs data caused by the
coronavirus-induced economic downturn.
Energy .SPNY , materials .SPLRCM and financials .SPSY ,
which have lagged this year, led the way among S&P 500 sectors.
Shares of PayPal Holdings PYPL.O soared and boosted the
S&P 500 and the Nasdaq after the company said it expects a
strong recovery in payments volumes in the second quarter as
social distancing drives more people to shop online.
Shares of media company ViacomCBS Inc VIAC.O and
ride-hailing firm Lyft LYFT.O also jumped after their
earnings, as a first-quarter reporting season that Refinitiv
estimates will show a 12% decline in earnings begins to wind
down. Stocks have rebounded sharply since late March from the
coronavirus-fueled sell-off, helped by massive monetary and
fiscal stimulus. Investors are now watching efforts by a number
of states to spark their economies by easing restrictions put in
place to fight the outbreak.
“Everything is going smoothly so far and I think there's an
assumption on the market's part that that's a good sign," said
Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth
Financial Network. "The market is looking at this and saying so
far, so good.”
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
211.25 points, or 0.89%, to 23,875.89, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
32.77 points, or 1.15%, to 2,881.19 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 125.27 points, or 1.41%, to 8,979.66.
Data showed millions more Americans sought unemployment
benefits last week, suggesting layoffs broadened from
consumer-facing industries to other segments of the economy and
could remain elevated even as many parts of the country start to
reopen. The U.S. employment report for April is due on Friday.
“The market rightly or wrongly is just much more focused on
what that data looks like two months from now, not what that
data looks like right now,” said Eric Freedman, chief investment
officer at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
Investors were also encouraged by news that China's exports
unexpectedly rose in April for the first time this year as
factories raced to make up for lost sales due to the coronavirus
pandemic.