by Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday, buoyed by hopes of a U.S. debt ceiling deal and strong performance from Walmart, which upgraded its annual outlook.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.34%, or 115.14 points, to 33,535.91 points.

The broader S&P-500 gained 39.28 points, or 0.94%, to 4,198.05 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced for its part by 188.27 points (1.51%) to 12,688.84 points.

US President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated this week that a deal to raise the government’s borrowing limit is within reach.

“Yesterday and today we really saw the pressure on the debt ceiling ease, McCarthy was again optimistic that a deal could be reached by the weekend, the House could vote on the text the following week,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief strategist at Ameriprise Financial.

Talk of the US debt ceiling has taken the focus away from the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate hike campaign.

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that jobless claims fell more than expected in the United States in the week to May 13, suggesting that labor market tightness persists and Fed efforts to curb the economy have not fully come to fruition.

In values, Walmart rose after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results and raising its full-year outlook.

Netflix also advanced after announcing that its ad-supported offering had nearly 5 million monthly active users.

Micron Technology also ended in the green after announcing plans on Wednesday to invest up to 500 billion yen (3.35 billion euros) in extreme ultraviolet technology over the next few years with government support. Japanese.

(Report Chuck Mikolajczak; Camille Raynaud)

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