Caterpillar stocks jumped on the background of strong earnings growth

On Thursday, stocks of mining and construction equipment maker Caterpillar made their biggest gain of the day. They increased 7.7% to $212.14. That followed an earnings report of April 2017.

The third quarter of the company's earnings and profits exceeded analysts' estimates. The company expects strong operating earnings for the final quarter of the year.

Investors are anxiously taking readings of corporate profits, trying to figure out if the global economy is going into recession. Caterpillar's stable results help to reassure them. The company claimed that strong demand for its equipment supported higher prices. This helps to compensate for losses due to rising prices of raw materials for companies in all sectors.

This contributed to a positive mood in the markets. Along with that, U.S. economic data also showed good results.

Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Christopher Ciolino, said that the report was strong across all indicators, although economic uncertainty is very high. He added that such results should ease some worries about a potential economic slowdown, as industry remains stable with few signs of a slowdown.