US stocks closed sharply higher Thursday, with major indexes climbing 1.0 per cent in a broad rally that had nearly every sector participate in the gains and post strong weekly advances.
Even so, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index broke a lengthy string of quarterly gains, and also closed down for the month of March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 309 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 24,143. The S&P 500 SPX gained 37 points to 2,642, a gain of 1.4 per cent.
The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 114 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 7,063. The day was the latest example of pronounced market moves, reports Reuters.
For the week, the Dow rose 2.7 per cent, while the S&P added 2.1 per cent and the Nasdaq was up 1.0 per cent.
For the month of March, all three saw steep declines, with the Dow off 3.5 per cent, the S&P 500 off 2.7 per cent and the Nasdaq off 2.9 per cent in its biggest monthly drop since January 2016.
In the first quarter, during which time the Dow and S&P fell into correction territory, the Dow fell 2.3 per cent and the S&P lost 1.2 per cent.
Both ended nine-quarter streaks of gains; for the Dow, that represented its longest such streak since 1997.
Facebook rose 4.4 per cent, though it fell more than 10 per cent for the month of March, its weakest month in three years.
