Wall Street soars as geopolitical tension ease

US stocks rose on Thursday as investors anticipated a strong earnings season and as US President Donald Trump's suggestion that a military strike on Syria may not be imminent ratcheted down geopolitical worries.

The S&P 500 has now recouped nearly all its losses from earlier this year.

Trump said in a tweet on Thursday that a possible attack on Syria could occur "very soon or not so soon at all," easing fears of confrontation with Russia.

That lifted US Treasury yields , leading to a 1.8 per cent increase in financial stocks, which had the biggest percentage advance among the S&P's 11 major sectors.

The technology sector rose 1.3 per cent, adding the most gains to the S&P.

Strong quarterly results from BlackRock Inc and Delta Air Lines Inc added to the sanguine mood.

Delta topped profit estimates, sending its shares 2.9 per cent higher and boosting other airline stocks.

BlackRock gained 1.5 per cent after the asset manager's quarterly profit rose more than expected.

The earnings season begins in earnest on Friday with reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 293.6 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 24,483.05, the S&P 500 gained 21.8 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 2,663.99, and the Nasdaq Composite added 71.22 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 7,140.25.

Investor sentiment was also boosted by the weekly US initial jobless claims report, which pointed to sustained labour market strength.

Our columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and his Times colleagues help you make sense of major business and policy headlines — and the power-brokers who shape them.

Facebook Inc was a notable laggard among technology stocks, falling 1.5 per cent following a 5.3 per cent gain over the past two days when Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress on the social network's data security.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc shares dived 20.0 per cent after the company's full-year profit forecast missed estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE for a 1.20-to-1 ratio and on the Nasdaq, for a 1.84-to-1 ratio.

Volume on US exchanges was 6.12 billion shares, compared to the 7.27 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.