The Dow Jones gained 0.96%, the Nasdaq index rose 0.81%, and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.84%.

The beginning of the session consisted in digesting a volley of economic data in the United States, published before trading.

U.S. retail sales in August rose 0.6 percent month-on-month, well above the 0.1 percent economists had predicted, largely due to soaring oil prices.

"It was a positive" for stocks, said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.

Excluding energy, automotive, construction and food, consumption and retail sales rose 0.1%, against an expected contraction of 0.1%.

On the jobs side, new jobless claims rose only slightly last week, to 220,000, against 225,000 expected.

The downside came from the PPI producer price index, or wholesale prices, up 0.7% month-on-month, more than the 0.4% expected by economists.

Nevertheless, the index excluding energy and food reached only 0.2%, as in the previous month and in line with forecasts.

"Inflation is always going in the right direction," according to Art Hogan. The deceleration "isn't going to be linear, but things are improving."

Added to this was the first listing of Arm, a specialist in microprocessor design, whose stock immediately took off, up to gaining 30% compared to the price set the day before the IPO.

The stock ended up 24.69%, a success for this operation that was a major test for Wall Street, valuing Arm some $ 65 billion, and even 67.9 when counting the shares allocated to employees and managers.

"It's been 18 months since we had a real introduction, and it's a success," Hogan said.

"I think we have started something", a new stock market cycle, after several gloomy weeks, pleads the analyst, who compared this jump to that of August, during which the market had suffered in the first fortnight before raising its head.

"We're not going to break records, but I think it's the end of the ritornelle of fears" about the economic situation and inflation.

Despite the acceleration in producer prices, the bond market reacted only at the margin. The yield on two-year US government bonds stood at 5.01%, compared with 4.96% on Wednesday at the close.

At the rating, a few hours before a possible strike of employees members of the large union UAW (United Auto Workers), General Motors (-0.12%), Stellantis (-0.58%) and Ford (-1.00%) have taken out the umbrella.

After American Airlines and Spirit Airlines on Wednesday, Delta (-0.56%) has, in turn, issued an earnings warning on Thursday, due to the rise in the price of kerosene.

After ten difficult days, Apple attempted a rebound and took 0.88%, after a denial by the Chinese authorities concerning the ban, reported by several media, of iPhones in several government agencies.

HP was sanctioned (-1.80%) after the publication of a stock exchange document indicating that Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company led by Warren Buffett, has sold some 5.5 million shares of the computer manufacturer, of which it still retains 115 million shares.

© 2023 AFP