Global Stocks

European stocks ended firmly higher on Thursday as oil prices shook off losses and investors cheered a round of upbeat earnings reports.

The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.78% gained 0.8% to close at 346.66, after trading as low as 343.16 earlier in the day.

The pan-European equities gauge on Wednesday edged down 0.2%, the first decline after five consecutive advances, as energy shares pulled lower.

Shares of oil companies rose on Thursday after mostly trading in the red earlier in the day when oil prices CLU6, +0.94% LCOV6, +0.65% had dropped more than 1%. Losses for oil prices had accelerated after the International Energy Agency said oil demand world-wide will be lower than previously expected, and warned that a "massive" stock overhang is keeping a lid on crude oil prices. Oil prices, however, reversed in the afternoon to trade sharply higher after Saudi Arabia hinted at a plan to freeze production.

The three main stock-market indexes rang up record highs Thursday as better-than-expected economic data and a rebound in oil prices boosted Wall Street sentiment.

The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.47% rose 10.30 points, or 0.5%, to close at 2,185.79, topping the previous all-time closing high of 2,182.87 set Aug. 5. Energy shares led the gains with a 1.3% jump, while consumer-discretionary stocks advanced 1%, thanks in part to a big jump in shares of Macy's Inc. M, +17.09% and Kohl's Corp. KSS, +16.17% following earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.64% rallied 117.86 points, or 0.7%, to close at 18,613.52, topping its previous closing record of 18,595.03 set July 20. The average was led by a 2.9% jump in Nike Inc. NKE, +2.90% shares.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.46% gained 23.81 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 5,228.40, surpassing its previous record of 5,225.48 set on Tuesday.

It was the first day the three major stock-market indexes finished at records on the same day since Dec. 31 1999, according to Dow Jones data.

Asian stocks inched up on Friday, after a surge in oil prices helped propel Wall Street to record highs overnight, while Chinese economic indicators that missed expectations did not dent gains in mainland shares.

Both China's CSI300 index .CSI300 and the Shanghai Composite .SSEC rose about 0.5 percent after fixed asset investment, retail sales and industrial output all rose but were below expectations. Both indexes were headed for gains of about 1.4 percent for the week.

Fixed asset investment from January to July increased by 8.1 percent from a year earlier, the slowest rate in more than 16 years, compared with expectations for 8.8 percent.

July retail sales increased 10.2 percent, versus 10.6 percent the previous month and a forecast 10.5 percent. Industrial output rose 6.0 percent from a year earlier, slowing from June's 6.2 percent and just missing forecasts of 6.1 percent.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.7 percent on a slightly weaker yen, and is poised to end the week 3.7 percent higher.