By Yashaswini Swamynathan
REUTERS - Wall Street rallied on Thursday, buoyed by Apple's best four-day run since 2014, higher oil prices and lackluster data that further dimmed the odds of an interest rate hike next week.
Apple rose as much as 3.3 percent, giving the three major indexes their biggest boost after saying that the first stock of its iPhone 7 Plus was sold out globally.
Data showed retail sales and industrial activity fell more than expected in August. The data followed a slowdown in job growth and a slump in manufacturing activity for the month and further cut the odds of the Federal Reserve raising rates at its meeting next week.
"The Fed continues to be in a real pickle. They want to raise rates ... but now you get the retail sales number and that takes the wind out of the sails a little bit," said Aaron Clark, portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management in Boston, Massachusetts.
At 12:34 a.m. ET (1634 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 128.58 points, or 0.71 percent, at 18,163.35.
The S&P 500 was up 15.35 points, or 0.72 percent, at 2,141.12 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 58.90 points, or 1.14 percent, at 5,232.67.
Jobless claims rose less than expected last week, indicating strength in the labor market - a key barometer the Fed considers while deciding monetary policy.
"While the (overall) data is not strong enough to push them over the edge and raise rates, they're not disastrous, recessionary-type numbers either."
Traders trimmed the odds for a hike at the meeting to 12 percent after the blast of data from 15 percent earlier, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
After a tepid start to the day, all 10 major S&P sectors were higher.
The technology sector's 1.41 percent surge led the gainers, while the rate-sensitive utilities sector brought up the rear with a 0.17 percent gain.
The energy index rose to 1.2 percent as Brent crude prices increased more than 2 percent.
Among stocks, positive reports on iPhone sales also gave a boost to Apple suppliers. Chipmaker Skyworks Solutions jumped 6 percent and was the top percentage gainer on the S&P.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,148 to 743. On the Nasdaq, 1,932 issues rose and 787 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed two new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 47 new highs and 31 new lows.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content