NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed to start Thursday, boosted by encouraging retail sales data and reassurance from financial results in the semiconductor sector.

Around 15 minutes into the start of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent to 43,211.79.

The broad-based S&P 500 Index jumped 0.3 percent to 5,862.29, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5 percent to 18,453.67.

The gains came as the United States posted better than expected retail sales growth, with sales rising 0.4 percent in September as consumers spent on food services and other areas.

Excluding auto and gas station sales, the overall rise was even higher at 0.7 percent last month, Commerce Department data showed.

Wall St steady as investors favor small caps over Big Tech

“I think you can have both inflation trending lower and GDP not falling apart. I think that’s exactly what we’re witnessing right now,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.

“I think that defines what a soft landing would be here,” he added.

Meanwhile, worries over the semiconductor sector were somewhat assuaged by financial results posted by Taiwanese chip giant TSMC.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which controls more than half the world’s output of chips, announced a better than expected rise in net profit for the third quarter Thursday.

It also lifted growth forecasts for the year on “extremely robust” demand for AI technology, after tech stocks took a hit from disappointing results by Dutch powerhouse ASML, which supplies chipmaking machines.

TSMC shares surged 11.2 percent in early trading while other chip names like Nvidia added 2.6 percent.