U.S. markets ended higher on Thursday, supported by a sharp rally in technology stocks. Sentiment remained upbeat after the Commerce Department released a report showing that consumer prices edged down in line with expectations in June. The annual inflation rate also slowed as expected. The report said the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index slipped by 0.1 percent in June after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in May. However, traders were cautious after another Commerce Department report showed that U.S. economic growth unexpectedly slowed in the second quarter of 2026. The report said real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.5 percent in the second quarter after expanding by 2.1 percent in the first quarter. Street had expected GDP to grow by 2.3 percent.
On the sectoral front, airline stocks saw considerable strength amid a pullback in crude oil prices, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index jumping 5.2 percent. Gold, brokerage, and oil service stocks also posted strong performances, while pharmaceutical, housing, and healthcare stocks moved significantly lower.
Nasdaq surged 679.23 points or 2.78 percent to 25,122.18, S&P 500 gained 121.48 points or 1.66 percent to 7,437.63 and Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 613.92 points or 1.19 percent to 52,208.06.
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