New York, Oct 23 (IANS): US stocks opened higher on Friday after strong quarterly results from three tech giants and dovish remarks from European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi.

Wall Street was cheered by positive earnings from Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft, along with 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 8 percent in the early trading on Friday.

Shares of Amazon.com jumped 7.61 percent in the morning session on Friday, after the company reported a surprise profit on stronger sales.

Microsoft also rallied more than 11 percent on Friday as the tech corporation posted a beat 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 favourable impact on the cost and availability of credit for firms and households," said Draghi at a press conference held after the meeting.

Some analysts thought 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 (PBOC), the central bank, decided on Friday to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) of banks, and benchmark interest rates.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114.41 points, or 0.65 percent, to 17,603.57. The S&P 500 gained 17.63 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,070.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 84.47 points, or 1.72 percent, to 5,004.52.

US stocks posted solid gains on Thursday, as investor sentiment was buoyed by dovish message from Draghi.