The Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims climbed to 217,000 in the week ended January 11th, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level of 203,000. The Commerce Department also released a report showing retail sales in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of December. The report said retail sales rose by 0.4% in December after advancing by an upwardly revised 0.8% in November. Meanwhile, the report said core retail sales which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services climbed by 0.7% in December after rising by 0.4% in November.

Utilities and commercial real estate stocks were considerably strong with the Dow Jones Utility Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index jumping by 2.3% and 2.2%. Brokerage stocks also added to the strong gains posted on Wednesday, driving the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index up by 1.7%. Natural gas and pharmaceutical stocks also saw notable strength on the day while some weakness was visible among computer hardware and gold stocks.

Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shot up by 1.2%. The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 2.1%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.1% and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.4%.

In the bond market, treasuries saw continued strength following the rally seen on Wednesday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, slid 4.7 basis points to 4.60%.

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