Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	18613.52		117.86	0.64%
S& P 500	S& P 500 Index	2185.79		10.30	0.47%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ	5228.40		23.81	0.46%

 

All major US stock indexes post record closes oil rallies

Stocks closed higher Thursday, with the three major indexes closing at new record highs, amid sharp gains in oil prices and strong quarterly results from retailers.

" I think there are two main drivers here. One of them is oil," said Mariann Montagne, senior investment analyst at Gradient Investments. " The other part is this retail rally."

Thursday also marked the first time since 1999 the Dow, S & P and the Nasdaq posted record closing highs on the same day, according to Bespoke.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed about 115 points higher, with 3M contributing the most gains. The 30-stock index also traded above a previous record high of 18,622.01.

The benchmark S & P 500 advanced about 0.5 percent, with energy rising more than 1 percent. The index also briefly traded above its previous all-time intraday high of 2,187.66.

" This has been a broad-based rally," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird. " The market is following the broader trend, which is higher."

US oil settled 4.27 percent higher at $ 43.49 a barrel on comments from the Saudi oil minister about possible action to stabilize prices and as the International Energy Agency forecast crude markets would tighten in the second half of 2016, a day after falling nearly 2.5 percent amid an unexpected build in inventories. " Oil is about stabilization," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. " If we get that above $ 40, we' re going to be OK."

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial, said " I think oil is going to stay in this $ 42- $ 45 range."

On the data front, U.S. import prices rose unexpectedly in July, according to Labor Department data released Thursday morning.

Import prices edged up 0.1 percent last month after an upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices falling 0.3 percent in July after a previously reported 0.2 percent advance in June.

Meanwhile, weekly U.S. jobless claims fell slightly to 266,000.

Gold futures for December delivery settled $ 1.90 lower at $ 1,350 per ounce.

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Volume:	1,007.0M
Value:	$1,021.3M
Gainers/Losers:	207/175

Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	18495.66		-37.39	-0.20%
S& P 500	S& P 500 Index	2175.49		-6.25	-0.29%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ	5204.58		-20.90	-0.40%