US close: Stocks rally as oil prices hit biggest one-day gain in six years

US stocks rallied on Thursday, as Wall Street fed off a global recovery and strong GDP data

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 369 points to 16,654.77, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were 47 and 115 points higher respectively.

"Today's strong revision to US GDP made the Fed's job even harder when they reconvene for September's meeting, which has all but been written off as a source of a rate hike given this week's volatility," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.

"Contradictory statements from Fed members has muddied the picture as much as the data, but the size of today's GDP reading has done enough to revive expectations of a hike in September for just the second time in as many weeks."

Thursday data

According to the Commerce Department, the US gross domestic product was revised to have grown 3.7% in the second quarter, compared with an initial estimate of 2.3% and ahead of analysts’ expectations calling for a 3.2% increase.

Consumer spending was also revised upward, rising from 2.9% to 3.1%, while corporate profits climbed 2.4% in the second quarter after declining 5.8% in the previous three months.

"We don’t think a September rate hike is completely off the table, but we’ll just have to wait and see what officials have to say at this weekend’s Jackson Hole gathering," said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

Meanwhile, in the week ended 22 August initial claims declined by 6,000 to reach 271,000, according to figures published by the Department of Labor, falling below the 275,000 level analysts expected.

The figure marked the 25th consecutive week initial claims have remained below the 300,000 level, the longest stretch in 15 years.

The index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) climbed 0.5% month-on-month in July, reversing the previous month's decline and climbing 7.3% year-on-year.

Both figures, however, were below the 1.0% month-on-month gain and the 8.4% increase on a yearly basis analysts had expected.

Oil prices clinch biggest one-day gain since 2009

Elsewhere, Chinese shares led markets around the region upwards, as a late rally saw the Shanghai Composite rise by 5.35% to snap a five-day rout, while European stocks were also higher.

The dollar edged higher against the main currencies, gaining 0.82% against both the yen and the euro and climbing 0.42% against the pound, while gold futures shed 0.08% to $1,123.70,

Oil prices surged, as both West Texas Intermediate and Brent surged over 9% to $42.68 a barrel and $47.45 a barrel respectively, notching their biggest one-day gain since 2009.

In company news, shares in St Jude Medical jumped 4.44% after reports that Abbott Laboratories could buy the maker of medical devices.

Abbott Laboratories, which denied the report just before the opening bell, saw its shares climb 3.77%.

Software maker Workday rose 4%, even though a weak billings forecast left analysts unimpressed, while Tiffany & Co lost 2.17% after disappointing quarterly report.

S&P 500 - Risers
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $2.28 +49.02%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $10.19 +28.66%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $16.89 +15.68%
Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $3.95 +15.16%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $13.86 +13.79%
QEP Resources Inc (QEP) $13.01 +12.54%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $10.77 +12.19%
Noble Corporation plc (NE) $12.39 +12.13%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $12.93 +11.47%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $7.02 +10.73%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $45.94 -6.30%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $74.31 -3.13%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $83.26 -2.14%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $90.64 -1.22%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $58.35 -0.85%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $76.79 -0.71%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $73.32 -0.65%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $97.74 -0.54%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $61.44 -0.31%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $37.31 -0.29%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $77.64 +6.23%
General Electric Co. (GE) $25.01 +4.16%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $117.77 +3.80%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $112.62 +3.55%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $74.85 +3.24%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.17 +2.96%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $112.92 +2.94%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $43.90 +2.79%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $52.02 +2.68%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $189.21 +2.61%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $15.67 +8.67%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $126.21 +8.61%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $242.99 +8.07%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $117.62 +6.80%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $52.84 +6.73%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $151.91 +6.68%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $78.51 +5.68%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $22.82 +4.92%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $15.95 +4.66%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $49.06 +4.61%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $76.79 -0.71%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $61.44 -0.31%