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

The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, 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 as Brent crude oil fell 1% to $104.82 a barrel.

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

At that time, worries about the war with Iran pushed prices up.

Lower oil prices helped pull bond yields down and eased pressure on stocks.

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

The Federal Reserve raised its short-term rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday.

This was its first hike in more than three years.

Officials signaled they may raise it once more this year to fight high inflation.

Higher rates slow the economy and make borrowing costlier for everyone.

Some Thursday reports suggested the economy can handle higher rates.

Fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits.

Mid-Atlantic manufacturing also grew more than expected.

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

AI stocks kept rebounding, with Nvidia up 2.5% and Advanced Micro Devices up 6.4%.

Several homebuilders also rose as yields eased.