Wall Street closes substantially higher led by energy

• The two-day slide comes to an end on Thursday.
• Wall Street opens higher, surges to record highs.
• Crude oil rally lifts energy shares higher.

Following the two-day long corrective drop, major equity indexes in the United States started the day on a strong note on Thursday and advanced to fresh all-time highs.

Crude oil's unstoppable rally boosted energy shares today, lifting the S&P 500 Energy Sector (SPNY) more than 2% higher. Earlier in the session, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate surged to its highest level in more than three years at $64.75 before closing the day with small losses on profit-taking.

Commenting on today's market action, “the unifying factor of today’s move and this whole week is a heightened confidence in the pace of economic activity. That helps explain the demand picture which has oil up at $70,” Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, in New York, told Reuters.

Boosted by the positive market sentiment, the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (SPLRCT) and the S&P 500 Financials Sector (SPSY) both closed the day 0.5% higher.

At the end of the day, the financial-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 204.16 points, or 0.8%, at 25,573.29, the S&P 500 added 19.22 points, or 0.7%, at 2,767.45 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 19.22 points, or 0.7%, at 7,210.01.