Stocks gained during a volatile session Thursday as the U.S. government's most recent debt auction saw strong demand and an increase in oil prices helped shares of energy producers. A spike in yields of the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond Wednesday sparked a late-session sell-off, as investors worried that higher borrowing costs—particularly mortgage rates—could stifle the economy. But those concerns were lower Thursday after the government's $23 billion auction of 7-year bonds attracted solid demand. U.S. economic news Thursday was mixed. On the positive side, weekly jobless claims showed a bigger-than-expected decline, while orders for durable goods jumped by 1.9 percent in April. However, sales of new homes rose a smaller-than-expected 0.3 percent in April, and the number of foreclosures initiated in the first quarter of the year rose to a record high. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery rose $1.63 to $65.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after climbing to an intra-session high of $65.35. The rally came after the jobless-claims and durable-goods reports suggested the economy might rebound and after U.S. government said crude inventories fell more than expected last week. The U.S. dollar was mixed against major currencies. It fell versus the euro but rose versus the British pound and the yen, jumping 1.5 percent against the Japanese currency. In corporate news, media giant Time Warner announced it would separate itself from online service company AOL. Time Warner said AOL would be made into a separate publicly traded firm. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 103.62, or 1.25 percent, to 8,403.64. Energy companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil rose along with higher oil prices, and banks stocks also gained. General Motors (GM) shares rose after the troubled automaker said major bondholders have accepted a revised deal to exchange debt for equity. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 13.77, or 1.5 percent, to 906.83. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 20.71, or 1.2 percent, to 1,751.79. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 93.50 to 5,917.06. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 27.36 to 1,590.02. And the Russell 2000 index rose 2.35 to 492.21.
