US close: Stocks close higher as oil prices rise above $40 mark
US stocks closed on the front foot on Thursday as oil prices jumped and investors continued to weigh the Federal Reserve's policy announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.90%, the S&P 500 increased 0.66% and the Nasdaq gained 0.23%.
The US oil benchmark reached above the $40 mark for the first time this year as the dollar weakened after the Federal Reserve scaled back its expectations for the number of interest rate hikes this year.
West Texas Intermediate crude was up 4.6% to $40.32 per barrel while Brent crude grew 2.7% to $41.45 per barrel at 2126 GMT.
The Fed on Wednesday said it now expects to raise interest rates twice this year, compared to the four times estimated late last year.
The central bank decided to keep rates unchanged at its March meeting, highlighting concerns about the global economic slowdown.
"Proceeding cautiously will allow us to verify that the labour market is continue to strength given the economic risk from abroad," said chairwoman Janet Yellen.
"Such caution is appropriate given short term interest rates are still near zero, which means monetary policy has greater scope to respond to upside than downside changes in the outlook," she said.
The US central bank said that although the labour market was improving, it was still looking for inflation to reach its 2% target and reckoned the economy would continue to expand at a moderate pace.
Societe Generale now expects one rate hike in 2016.
In economic data, initial jobless claims rose to 265,000 in the week to 12 March from 258,000 the previous week, the Labor Department revealed. Analysts had penciled in 268,000 claims.
Manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region improved far more than expected in March, turning positive for the first time in seven months, according to the latest report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
The diffusion index rose from a reading of -2.8 in February to 12.4, by far exceeding economists’ expectations for a reading of -1.7.
In company news, shares in FedEx surged after its third-quarter results released late on Wednesday came in better than expected.
Office Depot rallied after The New York Post said Amazon.com might bid for its corporate business unit.
The dollar rebounded slightly from earlier declines against main currencies, rising 0.03% versus the pound, increasing 0.01% versus the euro and climbing 0.02% against the yen.
S&P 500 - Risers
FedEx Corp. (FDX) $161.34 +11.83%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $2.40 +9.59%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.79 +9.11%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $16.24 +8.41%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $10.90 +6.65%
Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) $54.74 +6.39%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $2.95 +4.98%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $24.09 +4.78%
Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) $87.84 +4.73%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $27.40 +4.50%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $30.03 -11.44%
Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL) $19.63 -10.61%
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $471.59 -5.75%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $69.06 -4.72%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $44.22 -4.70%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $562.35 -4.26%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $67.59 -3.54%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $65.31 -3.22%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $137.80 -2.92%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $151.69 -2.76%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
General Electric Co. (GE) $30.96 +2.62%
Boeing Co. (BA) $130.70 +2.45%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $64.59 +2.26%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $63.18 +2.13%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $75.90 +2.10%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $82.75 +1.73%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.77 +1.60%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $152.91 +1.57%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $96.89 +1.56%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $147.04 +1.55%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $67.45 -0.79%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $51.53 -0.79%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $106.74 -0.62%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $124.53 -0.30%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $123.16 -0.29%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $58.75 -0.29%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $105.80 -0.16%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $99.31 +3.91%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $51.42 +3.44%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $48.94 +3.21%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $41.48 +3.03%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $4.09 +3.02%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $27.60 +2.15%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $89.96 +2.03%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $226.38 +2.01%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $32.81 +1.99%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $151.55 +1.96%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $30.03 -11.44%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $44.22 -4.70%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $562.35 -4.26%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $77.32 -3.76%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $67.59 -3.54%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $65.31 -3.22%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $27.03 -2.91%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $559.44 -2.58%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $40.78 -2.25%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $127.91 -2.24%