Dow climbs 200 points as Wall Street looks to build on recent gains

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as Wall Street looked to extend a modest winning streak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 249 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively. The S&P 500, which sits about 20% off its record high, is looking for its first four-day winning streak since late March.

Energy stocks were leading the gains on Thursday, reversing some recent losses as oil prices rebounded. Chevron rose 2.5%, while Exxon jumped more than 3%.

Freeport-McMoRan and Nucor rose 6.6% and 5%, respectively, as commodity stocks climbed.

Chipmakers were higher in early trading after South Korea's Samsung posted an 11% jump in profit and 21% surge in revenue for the latest period on strong sales of memory chips. Shares of AMD and Nvidia gained 4% and 3%, respectively.

"There's not necessarily much conviction in this move, but it is nice to see that, in the absence of new negative news, that markets are bouncing off of short-term oversold levels," said Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones.

Another notable early mover was GameStop, which popped 10% after the video game retailer said a 4-for-1 stock split was approved by its board.

On the economic front, initial jobless claims and continuing claims both ticked up slightly last week. The U.S. trade deficit for May came in slightly higher than expected at $85.5 billion but was still down month over month.

The Labor Department's official jobs report is due out on Friday.

"With anecdotes of Tech sector layoffs and hiring freezes, sub-50 readings in the Employment
Components of the most recent ISM Manufacturing and Services surveys, and rising unemployment claims (albeit from extremely low levels), Friday's Jobs report will hold particular significance," Credit Suisse chief U.S. equity strategist Jonathan Golub said in a note to clients.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 posted its third straight day of gains following the release of the June meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve. The broader market index added nearly 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained more than 69 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite rose close to 0.4%.

Central bank officials reiterated a tough stance against inflation, saying another 50- or 75-basis point move would "likely be appropriate" at the July 26-27 meeting.

Meanwhile, Levi Strauss is set to report earnings Thursday after the bell. Many investors and strategists have pointed to the busy earnings calendar later this month as a key test for markets.