U.S. stocks had their best day in six weeks on Thursday.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1%.

This was its second gain in nine days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 316 points, or 0.6%.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.7%.

Stocks got a boost because Brent crude oil fell 1%.

It went to $104.82 a barrel.

That is down from nearly $110 earlier in the week.

Then, worries about the war with Iran pushed prices up.

Lower oil prices helped pull bond yields down.

This eased pressure on stocks.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.93% from 5.01%.

The Federal Reserve raised its short-term rate on Wednesday.

It went up by a quarter of a percentage point.

This was its first hike in more than three years.

Officials said they may raise it once more this year.

They want to fight high inflation.

Higher rates slow the economy.

They also make borrowing costlier for everyone.

Some reports on Thursday suggested the economy can handle higher rates.

Fewer workers asked for unemployment benefits.

Mid-Atlantic manufacturing grew more than expected.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said a stronger economy and "geopolitics" were reasons for the rate hike.

AI stocks kept going up.

Nvidia rose 2.5% and Advanced Micro Devices rose 6.4%.

Several homebuilders also rose as yields eased.