Stocks rallied on Thursday as investors regained confidence in the economy following encouraging consumer and labour data that helped ease recession worries.
The Dow Jones Industrial index popped 554.93 points, or 1.4%, to close Thursday at 40,563.32
The S&P 500 index picked up 88.01 points, or 1.6%, to 5,543.22, its sixth straight winning session. The broad market index has advanced roughly 8% from its intraday bottom on Aug. 5.
The NASDAQ rocketed 401.89 points, or 2.3%, to 17,594.50.
After a 3% gain this week, the S&P 500 is now less than 3% below its record. The three major U.S. indexes are now trading above their Aug. 2 closing level, which was the session before the global stock market rout on Aug. 5 that was largely driven by investors’ concerns about an economic slowdown and an unwinding of a popular hedge fund currency trade.
Dow component Walmart added to the momentum, with a raised outlook and an earnings report that topped analyst estimates, sending shares up more than 6%. Elsewhere, Cisco Systems jumped more than 6% after announcing a fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat and cuts to its global workforce.
Retail sales increased 1% in July, far surpassing an estimate from Dow Jones that forecast a 0.3% uptick. Also separately, weekly jobless claims fell for the week. The data served as a boon to investors and a broader market trying to mount a comeback from an August rout tied to concerns about a slowing economy that arose following July’s disappointing jobs report on August 2.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury withered, raising yields to 3.92% from Wednesday’s 3.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 96 cents at $77.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices rallied $13.60 to $2,495.10.
