The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 516.91 points, or 1.61 percent, to 32,637.19. The S&P 500 increased 79.11 points, or 1.99 percent, to 4,057.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 305.91 points, or 2.68 percent, to 11,740.65.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer discretionary and technology up 4.78 percent and 2.45 percent, respectively, outpacing the rest. Real estate slipped 0.1 percent, the lone declining group.
Thursday's rally put Wall Street on track to snap a long streak of negative weeks triggered by concerns of surging inflation and central bank tightening.
Investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve's message on interest rate path.
The Fed's May meeting minutes released on Wednesday signaled further rate hikes in an effort to battle the hottest price pressures in 40 years.
"Most participants judged that 50 basis point increases in the target range would likely be appropriate at the next couple of meetings," the minutes said.
At the May 3-4 meeting, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point to a target range of 0.75 to 1 percent, marking the sharpest rate hike since 2000.
On the economic front, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, decreased by 8,000 to 210,000 in the week ending May 21, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast initial jobless claims to total 215,000.
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