U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday after two straight sessions of losses, as tech and bank stocks rallied following some robust quarterly results. All three major indexes ended in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) jumped 0.6% or 292.81 points, to close at 49,442.44 points.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, or 17.87 points, to end at 6,944.47 points. Utilities, financials, industrials and technology stocks were the biggest gainers.
The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) rose 0.4%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) gained 1%, while the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) climbed 0.9%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) added 0.5%. Eight of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.3%, or 58.27 points, to finish at 23,530.02 points.
The fear gauge, CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), was down 5.43% to 15.84. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.92-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.26-1 ratio favored advancing issues. A total of 19.12 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 16.81 billion.
On the Nasdaq, there were 2,683 new 52-week highs and 2,137 new lows. On the NYSE, there were 759 new 52-week highs and 55 new lows.
Chip and bank stocks rebounded on Thursday after suffering in the previous two sessions. Thursday’s gains were led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM) after the chipmaker reported blowout earnings. The company also announced that it plans to increase capital spending in the United States between $52 billion and $56 billion in 2026.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor jumped 4.4%. Taiwan Semiconductor has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other chip stocks also rallied after that. Shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) gained 2.1%, while Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) ended 1% higher.
Financial stocks also rallied after some big banks reported robust quarterly results. Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) rose 4.6% after the company reported solid fourth-quarter earnings of $14.01 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.77 per share.
Morgan Stanley (MS) also posted an earnings beat. The company reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $2.68 per share, easily outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.41 per share.
Meanwhile, energy stocks slid on Thursday, as oil prices fell, with both the West Texas Intermediate crude oil and Brent crude both declining over 4%.
