U.S. stocks finished Thursday's session significantly higher, despite a record surge in the number of Americans applying for jobless benefits due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,351.62 points, or 6.38 percent, to 22,552.17. The S&P 500 advanced 154.51 points, or 6.24 percent, to 2,630.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 413.24 points, or 5.60 percent, to 7,797.54.
All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended higher, with utilities up 8.39 percent, representing the best-performing group.
Thursday's rally followed the first two-day winning streak since February for the S&P 500 and the Dow.
U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, were registered at 3,283,000 in the week ending March 21, an increase of 3,001,000 from the previous week's revised level, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. Consensus expectations were for 1.64 million claims.
"The number of people filing for claims last week is indicative of the degree of shock to the economy," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said in a note on Thursday, adding "the number understates the damage," as a significant number of people could not file because the system was overwhelmed.
A massive coronavirus stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate helped bolster market sentiment.
The Senate on Wednesday night passed a 2-trillion-U.S.-dollar stimulus package to blunt the economic fallout of COVID-19, after rounds of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans.
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