U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 150 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 0.38% to 46,312.60 while the NASDAQ gained 0.40% to 22,655.24. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.33% to 6,664.29.

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Leading and Lagging SectorsConsumer staples shares jumped by 1.2% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, industrials stocks fell by 0.4%.

Top Headline

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings on Thursday.

The company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 62 cents, beating the Street view of 60 cents. Quarterly sales of $179.50 billion (+5.8% year over year) outpaced the analyst consensus estimate of $177.429 billion.

Walmart raised its 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to $2.58–$2.63, up from its earlier range of $2.52–$2.62. The updated midpoint comes in above the $2.61 analyst consensus. Walmart lifted its fiscal 2026 constant-currency revenue growth outlook to 4.8%–5.1%, up from its prior range of 3.75%–4.75%.

Equities Trading UP