Stocks rose on Thursday to hit fresh record highs after Morgan Stanley reported quarterly figures that easily topped analyst expectations while investors solid data on the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials increased 154.07 points to 29,184.29,
The S&P 500 gained 16.76 points to 3,306.05, broke above 3,300 for the first time.
The NASDAQ hiked 71.97 points to 9,330.67.
Morgan Stanley's three main businesses — investment management, wealth management and trading — all produced more revenue than expected in the previous quarter. The company's stock jumped 7%.
So far, the earnings season is off to a solid start. Around 7% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings thus far. Of those companies, 76.5% have posted better-than-expected expectations.
Expectations about the earnings season were muted prior to this week. Analysts expected S&P 500 earnings to have fallen by 2% in the fourth quarter.
Strong economic data also lifted sentiment on Wall Street. Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly dropped by 10,000 to 204,000. Economists expected a print of 216,000. Meanwhile, retail sales climbed by 0.3% in December, matching expectations.
Stocks closed well off their session highs on Wednesday after President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed a “phase one” trade deal in Washington, D.C. Under the agreement, China is set to buy an additional $200 billion in U.S. goods over the next two years.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising yields to 1.8% from Wednesday's 1.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 36 cents to $58.17 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $1.10 to $1,552.90 U.S. an ounce.