U.S. stocks rallied, boosted by energy shares as oil surged after U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia and Saudi Arabia would cut production. Treasuries fell and the dollar rose.

The S&P 500 advanced for the first time in three days, with Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp. among the top gainers. Shares rebounded after falling six per cent over the past two days. Consumer discretionary stocks weighed on the benchmark after jobless claims doubled from last week to 6.6 million.

West Texas crude gained 22 per cent after Trump said he expects the two countries to cut output following a conversation with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Thursday. But oil came off its highs after officials from both sides watered down expectations. The commodity is still down around 60 per cent  for the year.

Stocks rise as oil surges on potential supply cuts

After enduring their worst quarter since 2008, stocks are struggling for traction as companies move to slash dividends and more U.S. states enact severe restrictions on movement to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial jobless claims Thursday that showed record high numbers emphasized the uncertainties surrounding the economic toll. However, rebounding oil prices could help damp the impact by buoying a beaten up sector of the economy.

“The reality is, there’s no amount of stimulus to spur demand growth until the population is back outside of their homes interacting with society,” said Jeff Klingelhofer, co-head of investments and portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management, which has about US$37 billion in assets. “I think that we’re in for a period of high volatility for quite some time to come.”

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 Index rose 2.3 per cent of 4 p.m. New York time.
• The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.7 per cent.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.4 per cent.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6 per cent.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.5 per cent.
• The euro declined one per cent to US$1.0852.
• The British pound rose 0.2 per cent at US$1.2399.
• The Japanese yen fell 0.7 per cent to 107.92 per U.S. dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased three basis point to 0.61 per cent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to -0.43 per cent.
• Britain’s 10-year yield climbed two basis point to 0.33 per cent.

Commodities

• Gold rose 3.1 per cent to US$1,640.80 an ounce.
• West Texas Intermediate crude increased 22 per cent to US$24.72 a barrel.