NEW YORK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday despite a disappointing retail sales report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 348.85 points, or 0.91 percent, to 38,773.12. The S&P 500 added 29.11 points, or 0.58 percent, to 5,029.73, hitting a fresh record high. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 47.03 points, or 0.30 percent, to 15,906.17.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy and real estate leading the gainers by going up 2.48 percent and 2.36 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, technology bucked the trend by dropping 0.44 percent.
U.S. retail sales fell short of expectations, dropping 0.8 percent in January after a revised December gain, according to the Census Bureau. This decline was deeper than economists' predictions, who expected a correction after December's potentially inflated figures.
U.S. Treasury yields fell after the report, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury slipping 3 basis points to 4.24 percent. The 2-year Treasury yield dipped 2 basis points to 4.56 percent.
"Not surprising with a moderately hotter CPI (consumer price index), we had an outsized reaction, and I think we will likely try to spend the rest of the week clawing some of that back. Yesterday was a good example of that, and today feels like the same kind of grind higher," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management. "We're constructive on this market heading forward."
Wall Street has been on a wild ride this week, digesting a mix of inflation data - a surprising CPI jump and disappointing retail sales - and trying to predict the Fed's next move on interest rates.
"One thing to remember, if we're thinking about retail numbers, the Fed is going to pay more attention to the inflation numbers than it will to the retail-sales number. So between the two of them, I think the CPI number carries more weight," said Anna Rathbun, chief investment officer at CBIZ Investment Advisory Services. "But at the end of the day, they're waiting for the PCE (personal consumption expenditures) number that comes out at the end of the month."
In terms of individual stocks, Tesla continued its dominance, soaring 5 percent, while Meta Platforms also gained momentum with a 3 percent rise. Wells Fargo enjoyed the biggest jump, climbing 7 percent after a key regulatory hurdle was removed.
