NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks closed solidly higher Thursday, as investors parsed through a mixed bag of economic data.
Cisco Systems helped fuel the rally after reporting a quarterly profit and sales Wednesday that rose from year-ago results and beat Wall Street's forecasts. It also boosted its dividend by 75%. Shares of Cisco(CSCO, Fortune 500), a Dow component, rose more than 9%.
Weekly figures for initial jobless claims increased, but came in lower than expected. Meanwhile, reports on housing starts and building permits showed further momentum in the housing market.
The afternoon rally after a mostly flat morning came without any clear catalyst.
The afternoon rally after a mostly flat morning came without any clear catalyst.
"There's an old Wall Street saying to never short a dull market," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. The low-volume trading day, he said, "increases the odds of a sharp spike like today with everyone wondering what just happened."
Investors have grown more optimistic on the state of the housing market. Home prices and new construction have started to pick up in recent months as foreclosures have slowed. Still, it's been difficult for investors to find a theme to trade on, said several market watchers.
"We've seen some economic data that's been marginally positive, but overall the market narrative hasn't meaningfully changed over the last few weeks," said Joe Tanious, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
What has the potential to alter the narrative: another round of bond buying by the Federal Reserve. Investors are waiting to see whether Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will announce a so-called QE2 in his Jackson Hole, Wyoming speech at the end of the month.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and Japanese yen, but slipped against the British pound.
Oil for September delivery notched up $1.27 to $95.60 a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery rose $12.60 to $1,619.20 an ounce.
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