By Caitlin Ostroff

U.S. stocks climbed Thursday as blue-chip companies reported strong earnings and fresh economic data showed a sharp improvement in consumer spending and the labor market.

The S&P 500 gained 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.9%, indicating tech shares might recover some ground after falling Wednesday.

Investors will be watching earnings to assess whether stocks can grind higher. Citigroup rose 2.9% premarket after it reported sharply higher first-quarter profit and said it was shutting down most of its consumer-banking operations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Bank of America shares added 1.3% premarket after the bank reported that its profit doubled in the first three months of the year.

BlackRock gained 1.4% after the asset manager reported that quarterly profit rose nearly 50%. UnitedHealth Group shares climbed 1.8% after the healthcare services company posted a larger profit and stronger revenue on the year in the first quarter.

U.S. retail sales -- a measure of purchases at stores, at restaurants and online -- jumped by 9.8% last month. Household incomes have benefited from recent fiscal stimulus measures that saw $1,400 checks hit some Americans' bank accounts.

Fresh data also showed that 576,000 Americans applied for first-time unemployment benefits in the week ended April 10, a decrease from the 769,000 who applied in the week prior. The Federal Reserve has said employment is one of the factors it is watching to determine when to eventually lift interest rates.

An anticipated economic recovery has led some investors to buy shares of companies sensitive to a rebound, such as energy, travel and banks, which has helped send indexes to repeated record highs this year.

"We want to see that the 2021 numbers -- even the 2022 numbers -- are going to continue to look good," said Esty Dwek, head of global market strategy at Natixis Investment Solutions. "We want to see what guidance is going to be. For a lot of 2020, we had no guidance."

In premarket trading, newly listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase rose 6.4%. Shares rose as high as $429.54 during the stock's trading debut Wednesday and ended the session at $328.28.

Overseas, the Stoxx Europe 600 gauge added 0.4%. Gains were led by Bud beer maker Anheuser-Busch InBev, which gained 4.1% after Barclays raised its price target on the stock. Shares in other alcoholic beverage makers were also higher, including Heineken and Johnnie Walker-maker Diageo.

The Russian ruble fell 1% against the dollar after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration would sanction Russia in response to its alleged election interference, widespread hacking campaign and other malign activity.

Major Asian stock indexes closed after a mixed performance. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged 0.4% lower. South Korea's Kospi added 0.4%.

In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked down to 1.612%, from 1.637% Wednesday.

Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-15-21 0947ET