Investing.com -- U.S. markets moved broadly higher on Thursday to rebound from an early-week drubbing after the euro placed a temporary halt on its downward shift toward parity.
Stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 1.25%, two days after losing more than 325 points in one of its worst sessions of the year. Stocks on the NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index also closed higher for the day.
Financial stocks moved higher on Thursday, one day after the Federal Reserve approved all but one major U.S. bank in the second round of its annual stress test. Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) gained 3.34% or 1.75 to close at 54.98 following a $7.8 billion stock buyback, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) rose 3.09% or 5.7 to 189.88. Goldman Sachs was forced by the Fed to alter its capital actions after the first half of the Fed's test last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial gained 1.47% or 259.83 to end the session at 17,895.22. The top performer on the Dow on Thursday was Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which gained 3.84% or 3.95 to 106.84 after the company announced it has started work on a sequel of 2013 smash-hit Frozen that amassed more than $1.2 billion sales. Disney also will release the eighth episode of a Star-Wars sci-fi series in May, 2017.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), meanwhile, continued its recent struggles by falling 1.53 or 4.73% to 30.80. Intel, which was the worst performer on the Dow, has seen its stock plunge this week after it slashed its first quarter revenue forecast citing lower than expected demand for its PC business.
The NASDAQ Composite index moved up slightly 0.89% or 43.35 to 4,893.29, while the S&P 500 rose 1.26% or 25.71 to 2,065.95. The top performer on the NASDAQ was Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR), which gained 5.74% or 10.49 to close at 193.10. Intel was also the worst performer on the NASDAQ and the S&P 500.
The biggest gainer on the S&P 500 was Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), which rose 6.12% or 2.14 to 37.09 after issuing a $3.1 billion stock buyback and raising its dividend from 10 to 15 cents.