US stocks rose sharply on Thursday after the latest Treasury auction garnered strong demand, pressuring bond yields, while consumer discretionary shares gained. The auction of $27 billion of 7-year notes completed this week's sales of Treasury coupons, with all three auctions seeing solid demand.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 145.86 points, or 1.75 percent, at 8,445.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 15.11 points, or 1.68 percent, at 916.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 27.31 points, or 1.52 percent, at 1,819.65. Earlier, all three indexes gained as much as 2 percent to 2.29 percent to hit session highs.