Dow rises 300 points on strong retail sales and job growth

The Dow Jones rose over 300 points in premarket trading Thursday morning as investors expressed confidence in the economy following robust retail sales and weekly jobs data. Just before the open, Dow futures rose 324 points, or about 0.81%, to 40,443. S&P futures rose 0.7%, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.9%.

The Ministry of Commerce reported On Thursday, it was announced that July retail sales beat Wall Street expectations, easing concerns about a possible slowdown in the U.S. economy.. Sales rose 1% for the month, easily beating analysts' forecasts of a 0.3% increase. Even excluding auto items, sales still rose 0.4%, beating the 0.1% forecast. Spending at electronics stores and grocery stores also showed strong growth, with increases of 1.6% and 1%, respectively.

There was also positive news for the labor market. Initial applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending August 10, the number was 227,000, down 7,000 from the previous week and below the forecast of 235,000, easing concerns about a weakening labor market.

The latest data has given a boost to investors and the broader market, which is trying to sustain a recovery after a prolonged period of volatility. It has also raised investors' hopes as inflation has eased, raising the possibility of interest rate cuts in September.

Walmart beats earnings expectations

As Inflation cools down And Consumers continue to look for bargains, Walmart (WMT) gets a boostShares of Walmart rose 7% on Thursdayafter the retail giant posted robust Second quarter resultsGrowth in the last quarter was due to higher-income households turning to the discounter and its advertising and e-commerce divisions.

The Arkansas-based company beat Wall Street expectations, reporting second-quarter revenue of $169.3 billion, or about 0.67 cents per share. Wall Street had forecast revenue of $168.6 billion, or about 0.65 cents per share, according to FactSet.

-Francisco Velasquez contributed to this article