The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 332.26 points, or 1.08 percent, to 31,055.86. The S&P 500 rose 41.57 points, or 1.09 percent, to 3,871.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 167.20 points, or 1.23 percent, to 13,777.74.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with financials up 2.28 percent, outpacing the rest. Materials slipped 0.54 percent, the lone declining group.
Meanwhile, U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly higher with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.
These market reactions came after data showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level since the end of November.
U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, fell to 779,000 in the week ending Jan. 30, following a downwardly revised 812,000 in the prior week, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.
The reading was below the 830,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones, but is still well above the pre-pandemic level.
The four-week moving average was 848,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average, showed the report.
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