The S&P 500 traded higher for the second straight day on hopes of a solution to the debt ceiling.

President Joe Biden has reportedly urged his negotiators to remain committed to a debt limit agreement after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested both parties could reach an agreement as early as this weekend.

Turning to economic data, US jobless claims fell to 242k in the week ended May 13, down from an 18-month high of 264k and compared to market estimates of 254k.

Walmart Inc WMT reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and raised full-year guidance Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA reported positive fourth quarter results.

Most sectors in the S&P 500 ended positively, with information technology and communications services stocks posting the biggest gains on Thursday. However, real estate and consumer staples stocks bucked the broader market trend and ended lower during the session.

The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.81% on Thursday to close at 13,834.62 amid gains Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN And apple inc AAPL.

The S&P 500 gained 0.94% while the Dow Jones rose 0.34% to 33,535.91 in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 4.9% on Thursday to close at 16.05.

What is the CBOE Volatility Index?

The CBOE Volatility Index, popularly known as the VIX, is a measure of stock market volatility expectations based on call and put values ​​for the S&P 500 index options.

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