U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday after the Bank of England (BOE) hinted at looser monetary policy next month and as earnings season kicked into full gear. In U.S. economic news, investors digested the latest reading of weekly jobless claims, which showed no change week over week. Meanwhile, the June reading of the producer price index showed an increase of 0.5 percent, above the expected 0.3 percent rise. In international economic news, the BOE kept interest rates unchanged, while market consensus was for a 25 basis point rate cut to 0.25 percent, which would have been the bank's first move since 2009. The dollar traded slightly lower against a basket of currencies. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery added 2.08 percent to $45.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures dropped $11.40 to $1,332.20 per ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 142.96, or 0.78 percent, to 18,515.08. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 11.91, or 0.53 percent, to 2,164.14. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 28.04, or 0.57 percent, to 5,034.06.
