The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 348.85 points to close Thursday at 38,773.12
The much-broader index took on 29.11 points to 5,029.73.
The NASDAQ index came out of the shadows and gained 47.03 points to 15,906.17.
Tesla gained 5% and Meta Platforms hiked 3%. Shares of Wells Fargo rose 7% after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ended a key penalty for the bank.
Earnings season continued to paint a muddled picture of corporate America. Tripadvisor jumped 11% after beating estimates on the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, Cisco shares were down 2% after the tech company announced layoffs and weak forward sales projections. Deere stock dropped 6% after the agricultural machinery manufacturer lowered guidance for its full-year net income.
Investors received another update about the state of the U.S. economy on Thursday, with January retail sales plunging 0.8%, much more than the 0.3% decline economists polled by Dow Jones had expected. This raised some concern about the strength of the U.S. consumer under the weight of sticky inflation and high interest rates, and sent Treasury yields down.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury surged, lowering yields to 4.24% from Wednesday’s 4.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices climbed $1.52 to $78.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices vaulted $11.80 to $2,016.10.