NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, buoyed by U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for lower interest rates and reduced oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 408.34 points, or 0.92 percent, to 44,565.07. The S&P 500 added 32.34 points, or 0.53 percent, to 6,118.71, hitting a record high. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 44.34 points, or 0.22 percent, to 20,053.68.

All of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with health and industrials leading the gainers by going up 1.35 percent and 0.96 percent, respectively. Technology posted the weakest growth, up by 0.12 percent.

During a virtual address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump advocated for an immediate drop in interest rates and urged Saudi Arabia to lower crude prices, which subsequently pushed oil prices into negative territory. His remarks also triggered a decline in short-term U.S. Treasury yields.

The 10-year Treasury yield softened to 4.646 percent as of 4:32 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Investors welcomed the prospect of potential tax cuts and deregulation under Trump's renewed administration, as well as signs of resilient economic growth. Despite lingering concerns over tariffs, the absence of immediate formal action on levies has provided markets with some relief.

Optimism among individual investors about the short-term outlook for stocks increased in the latest survey issued by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on Thursday.

The share of individual investors, who expected that stock prices would rise over the next six months, increased 18 percentage points to 43.4 percent last week, the highest level since early December 2024, according to the AAII.

The positive momentum in the stock market was further supported by a strong start to the fourth-quarter earnings season, with Netflix and major banks delivering upbeat results. However, the optimism was tempered by American Airlines, which saw its stock plunge 8.74 percent after issuing disappointing guidance. ■