S&P 500 jumps the most since March, powered by better-than-expected earnings; European stocks close higher as traders digest U.S. inflation data, earnings 
U.S. stocks rallied Thursday after better-than-expected earnings reports from Walgreens Boots Alliance, UnitedHealth, Bank of America and other major companies. 
The S&P 500 rose 1.7% to 4,438.26 in its biggest jump since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 534.75 points, or 1.6%, to 34,912.56. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.7% at 14,823.43. 
Walgreens Boots Alliance was the top performer in the Dow and S&P 500, rallying 7.4% after the drugstore chain beat earnings expectations. The company announced it would become majority owner of primary-care company VillageMD with a $5.2 billion investment and make health care its growth engine. 
Dow constituent UnitedHealth also popped 4.2% after the company’s quarterly results topped estimates. 
Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup saw their shares rise 4.5%, 2.5% and 0.8% respectively, after beating earnings expectations. Wells Fargo shares declined 1.6% despite an earnings beat. 
A lower-than-anticipated number of weekly jobless claims added to the positive market sentiment. Initial unemployment insurance claims last week totaled 293,000 – the first time the tally fell below the 300,000 level during the pandemic-era. 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.2% by the close, with basic resources adding 3.3% to lead gains as all sectors finished in positive territory. 
Danish bioscience company Chr Hansen dropped 6.7% after missing third-quarter profit expectations. 
Source: CNBC, Investing.com