The Dow Jones Industrials hurtled skyward 383.84 points, or 1.1%, to close Thursday at 34,030.34.
The S&P 500 hiked 54.37 points, or 1.3%, to 4,146.32.
The NASDAQ leaped 236.93 points, or 2%, to 12,106.58.
Mega-cap tech stocks advanced, with shares of Amazon up more than 4%. Shares of Google-parent Alphabet and Meta were each up more than 2%. Tesla shares also rose 3%.
The March producer prices index, a measure of prices paid by companies and often a leading indicator of consumer inflation, declined by 0.5% month over month versus expectations for prices to be flat. Excluding food and energy, the core wholesale prices reading shed 0.1% month over month, much better than the 0.2% increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
Wednesday’s release of March’s consumer price index report showed headline inflation pressures eased last month. The CPI advanced just 0.1% month over month in March. Consumer prices grew 5% on an annual basis, the smallest increase in nearly two years.
Traders’ sentiment turned in the afternoon following the release of minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting. In particular, the Fed expects the recent banking crisis to cause a mild recession later this year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell by the closing bell, raising yields to 3.45% from Wednesday’s 3.40%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices backpedaled 94 cents to $82.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hung onto gains of $29.60 to $2,054.50 U.S. an ounce.