ISTANBUL

The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on Thursday, supported by gains in chip companies and banks.

The Dow rose 0.6%, or 292.81 points, to close at 49,442.44.

The Nasdaq increased 0.25%, or 58.27 points, to 23,530.02, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.26%, or 17.88 points, to 6,944.48.

The Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the "fear index," fell 4.96% to 15.92.

The US and Taiwan reached an agreement Thursday on semiconductors, according to the American Commerce Department, which said it will attract huge investments from Taiwan to the US, and decrease tariffs for Taiwan.

Shares of Taiwanese chip company TSMC, traded on US stock exchanges, rose 4.4% after reporting a 35% increase in profit.

Shares of US chip companies also gained value. Shares of Broadcom and Micron Technology rose 1%, while Nvidia and AMD shares increased by 2%.

Investors assessed macroeconomic data and company earnings reports, leading to a positive trend in equity markets.

The number of initial jobless claims in the US fell to 198,000 in the week ending Jan. 10, below expectations.

Analysts noted that the data continues to reflect low layoff and hiring rates in the labor market.

The import price index in the US rose 0.4% and the export price index rose 0.5% in the two-month period ending November last year.

The manufacturing index released by the New York branch of the US Fed rose to 7.7 in January.

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index also increased to 12.6 in January from minus 8.8 in December of last year.

On the corporate side, shares of major US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley gained 4.6% and 5.8% respectively after reporting better-than-expected net profits in their earnings reports Thursday.