02:06 PM EDT, 10/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose intraday as stronger-than-expected retail sales signaled economic growth that won't jeopardize interest-rate cuts, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's ( TSM ) quarterly results lifted chip stocks.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to 18,466.2 with the S&P 500 up 0.3% to 5,860.3 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 0.4% to 43,249.7 after midday Thursday. Technology led the gainers, while utilities, real estate and consumer staples were among the decliners.

In economic news, US retail sales rose by 0.4% in September versus the 0.3% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and the previous month's 0.1% gain.

US industrial production fell by 0.3% in September versus expectations for a 0.2% decrease in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and a downwardly revised 0.3% increase in August. "A strike at a major producer of civilian aircraft held down total IP growth by an estimated 0.3% in September, and the effects of two hurricanes subtracted an estimated 0.3%," the Federal Reserve said.

Desjardins said retail sales suggest the US economy continues to grow "at a healthy pace despite a drop in industrial production." September jobs and inflation data pushed a second rate cut of 50 basis points off the table, and while "we still expect 25 basis-point cuts in November and December," a pause "may not be too far off," the Canadian financial service cooperative said.

Initial jobless claims last week fell 19,000 to 241,000, the Department of Labor said. The consensus was 258,000 in a survey of analysts by Bloomberg. The previous week's reading was revised upward by 2,000 to 260,000.

Recent hurricanes and the Boeing ( BA ) strike are still boosting jobless claims, Oxford Economics lead US economist Nancy Vanden Houten said in an email to MT Newswires. "Looking past these factors, we think the claims data are consistent with a labor market that has cooled but isn't collapsing, allowing the Fed to proceed with future rate cuts at a measured pace."

Almost all US Treasury yields rose with the 10-year yield up 7.9 basis points to 4.1% and the two-year rate 4.3 basis points higher at 3.99%.

The CBOE Volatility Index, known as the fear gauge for investors, dropped 2.7% to 19.06.

Chip stocks from Broadcom (AVGO) to Nvidia (NVDA) posted some of the biggest gains on the Nasdaq after Taiwan Semiconductor reported higher-than-anticipated Q3 results and Q4 sales prospects. Taiwan Semiconductor's shares rose 12% in recent trading.

Elevance Health ( ELV ) reported an unexpected drop in Q3 adjusted earnings. The shares slumped 12%, the biggest drop on the S&P

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1% to $69.84 a barrel.

Excluding inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels in the week ended Friday after a gain of 5.8 million in the previous week, compared with the increase of 1.5 million expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET.

Gold rose 0.6% to $2,707.01 an ounce, while silver fell 0.6% to $31.79.