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Jobless claims at one-month low; retail sales surge in

July

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Walmart ( WMT ) advances after raising FY profit forecast

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Cisco ( CSCO ) gains after forecasting upbeat Q1 revenue, cutting

7% jobs

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Indexes up: Dow 1.37%, S&P 500 1.61%, Nasdaq 2.33%

(Updated as of 2:30 p.m. ET)

By Abigail Summerville

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped on

Thursday, with the Nasdaq rising more than 2% after July U.S.

retail sales data signaled resilient consumer spending, allaying

fears of an imminent recession in the world's largest economy.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors traded higher, with

consumer discretionary and technology rising

3.1% and 2.3%, respectively.

Retail sales increased 1.0% last month after a downwardly

revised 0.2% drop in June, easing fears of a sharp economic

slowdown fanned by a jump in the unemployment rate last week.

Retail bellwether Walmart ( WMT ) added 6.5% after raising

its annual profit forecast for the second time this year as

Americans flocked to its stores for inexpensive essentials.

Rival Target ( TGT ) also jumped 3.6%, while Costco

advanced 1.5%.

A separate reading also showed the number of Americans

filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell

unexpectedly last week.

"The wall of worry is beginning to crumble as sentiment

is improving and the fundamentals support a risk-on bias," said

Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth

Management. "Retail sales were above expectations, Consumer

Price Index numbers came in at a tolerable level, so the

fundamental backdrop is consistent with rising equity prices."

The yield of two-year and 10-year

Treasury notes rose after the data, with traders increasing bets

for a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve to 76.5%,

versus 65% before the data.

Investors have cautiously eyed this week's economic data

releases, the last set before Fed Chairman Jerome Powell

delivers a much-awaited speech at Jackson Hole next week.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq extended their

winning streaks six consecutive sessions.

As of 2:45 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 547.87 points, or 1.37%, to 40,556.26, the S&P 500

gained 87.94 points, or 1.61%, at 5,543.15 and the Nasdaq

Composite advanced 401.03 points, or 2.33%, to

17,593.63.

Among other movers, Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) rose 6.9% after

it forecast better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and said

it was cutting 7% of its global workforce.

Nike ( NKE ) climbed 4.6% as billionaire investor William

Ackman built new stakes in the sportswear company. Ulta Beauty ( ULTA )

jumped 11.6% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A )

acquired a stake in the cosmetics store chain.