The Nasdaq notched a record close Tuesday.
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In addition to Macy’s and Kohl’s Corp.’s profit surprises, investors are awaiting a raft of other quarterly data from retailers.
“We think where the oil price is now is where it should be from a supply and demand point of view”, said Jerusalim. An industry report released on Thursday projected a more even balance in the supply and demand for oil this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 117.65 points, or 0.6 percent, to 18,613.31. At 0.23, the buy-sell ratio is about one-third of what it was in February and last August, and compares with an average of 0.69 over nearly three decades.
The S&P energy index rallied 1.3%, making it the top gainer among the 10 major sectors, led by a 1.26% rise in Chevron. The Nasdaq composite index gained 24 points, or 0.5%, to 5,228.
The latest market milestones reflect investors’ improved confidence in the US economy of late.
The indices were boosted by strong retail stocks, including better-than-expected results from Macy’s, and a rally in oil prices.
NEW ZEALAND’S CUT: New Zealand’s central bank on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a record low 2 percent, though some analysts had expected a larger cut. Crude-oil futures jumped to almost three-week highs after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said major producers might take action to stabilize prices at a meeting next month. Murphy Oil climbed $1.03, or 3.8 percent, to $28.47, while Chesapeake Energy rose 23 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $5.03.
Macy’s shares jumped 18%, marking the best day for the department store operator in almost eight years after it reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly comparable-store sales and said it would close 100 stores.
Beating its previous record high from last Friday, the S&P 500 is priced at about 17 times expected earnings, compared with a 10-year average of 14 times expected earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data. Nordtsrom gained $3.75, or 8.5 percent, to $47.98, while Gap added 98 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $25.01. Retail sales are forecast to rise 0.4% in July, following a gain of 0.6% the prior month.
EATING IT UP: Brinker International jumped 12.6 percent after the owner of the Chili’s Bar & Grill and Maggiano’s Little Italy chains reported strong quarterly results.
Hamburger chain Shake Shack slumped 6.2 percent after it said sales at older locations slowed down in the latest quarter. The stock shed 2.53 dollars to 38.34.
Utilities, which traded lower for most of the day, broke higher to close up 0.1%.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 0.8% and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.9%.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 0.4 percent higher, while China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI edged up 0.2%. West Texas Intermediate was more than 4% stronger by the close, sending energy stocks up 1.4%.
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Other commodities were mixed with the September natural gas falling a penny to US$2.55 per mmBTU, December gold contracts dropped $1.90 to US$1,350 an ounce and September copper contracts rose two cents to US$2.19 a pound.
