By Abigail Summerville
(Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Thursday, with the Nasdaq rising more than 2% after July U.S. retail sales data signaled resilient consumer spending, allaying fears of an imminent recession in the world's largest economy.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced, led by consumer discretionary and information technology.
Retail sales increased 1.0% after a downwardly revised 0.2% drop in June, easing fears of a sharp economic slowdown fanned by a jump in the unemployment rate last week.
Retail bellwether Walmart (NYSE:WMT) rose 6.58% after raising its annual profit forecast for the second time this year as Americans flocked to its stores for inexpensive essentials.
Rivals Target and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) also advanced 4.35% and 1.69%, respectively.
A separate reading also showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly last week.
"The wall of worry is beginning to crumble as sentiment is improving and the fundamentals support a risk-on bias," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "Retail sales were above expectations, Consumer Price Index numbers came in at a tolerable level, so the fundamental backdrop is consistent with rising equity prices."
The yield on two-year and 10-year Treasury notes rose after the data, with traders increasing bets for a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve to 76.5%, versus 65% before the data.
Investors have cautiously eyed this week's economic data releases, the last set before Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivers a much-awaited speech at Jackson Hole next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 554.67 points, or 1.39%, to 40,563.06. The S&P 500 gained 88.01 points, or 1.61%, at 5,543.22. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 401.90 points, or 2.34%, to 17,594.50.
Among other movers, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) rose 6.8% after it forecast better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and said it was cutting 7% of its global workforce.
Nike (NYSE:NKE) climbed 5.07% as billionaire investor William Ackman built new stakes in the sportswear company. Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) jumped 11.17% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) acquired a stake in the cosmetics store chain.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.22-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.66-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 104 new lows.