NEW YORK, April 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, extending gains as oil prices moderated from intraday highs following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that Israel has agreed to open direct negotiations with Lebanon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.88 points, or 0.58 percent, to 48,185.80. The S&P 500 added 41.85 points, or 0.62 percent, to 6,824.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 187.42 points, or 0.83 percent, to 22,822.42.
Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed in positive territory, with consumer discretionary and industrials leading the advancers at 2.46 percent and 1.04 percent, respectively. Energy and health care were the only laggards, declining 1.16 percent and 0.19 percent.
Crude prices advanced early in the session but retreated from their highs after Netanyahu's comments. West Texas Intermediate futures for May delivery rose as much as 8.78 percent, briefly surpassing 102 U.S. dollars per barrel, before settling up around 4 percent above 98 dollars. International benchmark Brent crude settled 1.23 percent higher at near 96 dollars per barrel.
The market also drew support from a more than 2.61 percent rise in Meta Platforms after the company unveiled its new artificial intelligence model, Muse Spark.
Defensive sectors gained ground as well, with Walmart advancing nearly 1.5 percent alongside utilities names such as Constellation Energy.
Meanwhile, core inflation in the United States remained above the Federal Reserve's 2-percent target in the period leading into the recent Iran conflict. The Commerce Department reported that the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which excludes food and energy, rose a seasonally adjusted 3 percent in February. The headline PCE measure increased 2.8 percent.
"In the weeks and months ahead, investors really need to see stability in the labor market and some reassurance from corporate earnings," said Bret Kenwell, eToro U.S. investment and options analyst. "If management teams tell a constructive story about resilient consumers and steady demand, investors may breathe a sigh of relief and refocus on the fundamentals. That is, of course, assuming we avoid a major setback on the geopolitical front."
In corporate developments, shares of all the "Magnificent Seven" technology giants ended higher except for Microsoft. Amazon led the group with a 5.6-percent gain.
