Investing.com - U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday, after the release of positive U.S. economic data and as comments by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday continued to support market sentiment.
At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.20%, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.30%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.15%.
Sparking the session’s bullish sentiment, data indicated that durable goods orders, which includes transportation items, jumped by a seasonally adjusted 9.9% in September, compared to expectations for a 7.1% gain.
Excluding volatile transportation items durable goods orders rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.0% last month, beating expectations for a 0.8% gain.
Separately, the Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to 369,000, from 392,000 the previous week, compared to expectations for a decrease to 370,000.
Sentiment strengthened earlier, after the Fed said in its rate statement on Wednesday that the U.S. economy is improving moderately, but said job growth has been slow and the unemployment rate remains elevated.
Procter & Gamble saw shares surge 2.72% after the consumer goods company posted results that were largely in line with expectations, although net income was hurt by a stronger dollar.
In the same sector, U.S. traded shares in Unilever rallied 3.42%, as the group beat expectations with a 5.9% rise in underlying quarterly sales thanks to strong demand from emerging markets.
Elsewhere in earnings, ConocoPhillips jumped 1.82%, even as the energy company posted a decline in profit, hurt by a price drop in crude oil and natural gas. Rivals Exxon Mobil and Chevron advanced 0.82% and 0.75% respectively.
Zynga added to gains, with shares soaring 15.08% after the social games services provider broke even on bookings of USD256 million, matching expectations. In addition, the firm announced a share repurchase program of USD200 million.
On the downside, consumer-electronics retailer Best Buy plunged 5.44% after announcing that two of its executives will be leaving the company. It also expects third-quarter earnings to be "significantly below" year-ago levels.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.44%, while Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.10%.
Investors are awaiting the U.S. GDP and consumer sentiment on Friday.