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Stocks climbed in a late-day rally as bond yields slipped, and Wall Street continued to weigh recession risks.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved firmly into the green by the closing bell, advancing 194.23 points to 30,677.36.
The S&P 500 climbed 35.84 points, or 1%, to 3,795.73.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ jumped 179.11 points, or 1.6%, to 11,232.19.
The major averages are set for a positive week, with the Dow up 2.6%, the S&P 500 gaining 3.3% and the NASDAQ increasing 4% week to date.
A peek into the broader market index showed more defensive stocks such as consumer staples, utilities, real-estate and health-care stocks drove outperformance, with each sector up about 2%. Consumer staples stocks such as Clorox gained 6%.
Homebuilders helped buoy consumer cyclicals, as shares of Lennar gained 4.5% and D.R. Horton climbed 5.2%.
Meanwhile, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 as oil prices took a hit. Shares of Schlumberger dropped 6.8%. Valero Energy fell 7.6% and Phillips 66 declined 6.8%.
Airline stocks dragged down on transportation issues. Shares of United Airlines dropped 2.5% as it cut back on flights out of Newark by 12%. Shares of American Airlines dipped 0.9% after dropping service to four small U.S. cities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 229,000 for the week ended June 18, though the labour market remains tight.
UBS is the latest investment bank this week to raise its odds of a recession to 69%, citing lackluster data last week in housing, industrial production and capital goods.
Citigroup increased its odds of a recession to 50%, citing a slide in consumer demand that could make it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to achieve a soft landing.
Goldman Sachs said the probability of a downturn is “higher and more front-loaded” than it was previously. In a Monday note, the firm raised its bet of a U.S. recession to 30%, up from 15%, over the next year. It increased those odds to 48%, up from 35%, over the next two years.
On the other hand, a top strategist at JPMorgan on Thursday said he believes the U.S. economy will dodge a recession altogether, with the stock market making back any losses in the back half of the year.
Treasury prices jumped, lowering yields to 3.09% from Wednesday’s 3.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $2.22 to $103.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices ditched 11 dollars to $1,827.40 U.S. an ounce.
