The Dow Jones Industrials moved firmly into the green by the closing bell, advancing 194.23 points to 30,677.36.
The S&P 500 climbed 35.84 points, or 1%, to 3,795.73.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ jumped 179.11 points, or 1.6%, to 11,232.19.
The major averages are set for a positive week, with the Dow up 2.6%, the S&P 500 gaining 3.3% and the NASDAQ increasing 4% week to date.
A peek into the broader market index showed more defensive stocks such as consumer staples, utilities, real-estate and health-care stocks drove outperformance, with each sector up about 2%. Consumer staples stocks such as Clorox gained 6%.
Homebuilders helped buoy consumer cyclicals, as shares of Lennar gained 4.5% and D.R. Horton climbed 5.2%.
Meanwhile, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 as oil prices took a hit. Shares of Schlumberger dropped 6.8%. Valero Energy fell 7.6% and Phillips 66 declined 6.8%.
Airline stocks dragged down on transportation issues. Shares of United Airlines dropped 2.5% as it cut back on flights out of Newark by 12%. Shares of American Airlines dipped 0.9% after dropping service to four small U.S. cities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 229,000 for the week ended June 18, though the labour market remains tight.
UBS is the latest investment bank this week to raise its odds of a recession to 69%, citing lackluster data last week in housing, industrial production and capital goods.
Citigroup increased its odds of a recession to 50%, citing a slide in consumer demand that could make it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to achieve a soft landing.
Goldman Sachs said the probability of a downturn is “higher and more front-loaded” than it was previously. In a Monday note, the firm raised its bet of a U.S. recession to 30%, up from 15%, over the next year. It increased those odds to 48%, up from 35%, over the next two years.
On the other hand, a top strategist at JPMorgan on Thursday said he believes the U.S. economy will dodge a recession altogether, with the stock market making back any losses in the back half of the year.
Treasury prices jumped, lowering yields to 3.09% from Wednesday’s 3.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $2.22 to $103.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices ditched 11 dollars to $1,827.40 U.S. an ounce.