The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 122.05 points, or 0.43 percent, to 28,425.51. The S&P 500 increased 27.38 points, or 0.80 percent, to 3,446.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 56.38 points, or 0.50 percent, to 11,420.98.
All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors advanced, with energy up 3.78 percent, leading the gains.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly higher, with seven of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.
Investors awaited more clues on additional U.S. coronavirus stimulus. U.S. President Donald Trump urged Congress to approve support for aid to airlines and other stimulus measures, after previously calling off COVID-19 relief talks with Democrats until after the election.
Wall Street also digested newly-released U.S. jobless claims numbers.
U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, stood at 840,000 in the week ending Oct. 3, following an upwardly revised 849,000 in the prior week, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected first-time claims for unemployment insurance to total 825,000 last week.
"Claims have stabilized at a level consistent with past recessions. The lack of improvement since early August suggest the recovery lost momentum over the course of the third quarter," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said in a note on Thursday.
Latest comments