Dow Jones climbs 533 points over earnings

U.S. shares surged Thursday reacting to banks’ strong quarterly results. Dow Jones rose 533 points, or 1.55%, while the S&P 500 index advanced 1.71% to post its best day since March and the Nasdaq Composite index tacked on 1.73% for its best session since May.

Strong gains came as jobless claims fell to the lowest level since the outbreak of COVID-19. A separate release showed producer prices rose 8.6% year over year in September while prices edged up 0.5% month over month.

In stocks, Bank of America Corp. reported earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates amid strong growth in its lending and stock-trading units. The bank also benefited from the release of $1.1 billion in reserves that were built up during the pandemic.

Morgan Stanley booked stronger than expected results as its wealth management division added a record amount of assets. Citigroup Inc. earnings and sales outpaced estimates as the release of loan loss reserves and strong equities trading provided a lift.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. raised its full-year profit outlook due to robust membership growth in its insurance business from both commercial and Medicare and Medicaid plans.

Oil companies, including Chevron Corp., ExxonMobil Corp. and Haliburton Co., gained as West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 87 cents to $81.31 a barrel.

European bourses were broadly higher with Britain’s FTSE 100 up 0.92%, Germany’s DAX advancing 1.4% and France’s CAC 40 rising 1.33%.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 1.46% while China’s Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index remained closed for holiday.