Solid company earnings and hopes for aid send stocks higher

Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street after more companies reported strong earnings and as hopes continue to build for another round of help for the economy from Washington. The S&P 500 added 0.3% early Thursday, keeping the benchmark index on track for a big gain this week. PayPal and eBay both rose sharply in the early going after releasing impressive results for the last three months of 2020. In Washington, President Joe Biden urged Democrats lawmakers to “act fast” on his