Wall Street shrugged off worries about jobless numbers and retail sales on Thursday as indexes ended higher after erasing losses from earlier in the day.

Markets have moved fitfully in the last few trading sessions as lawmakers in Washington battle over an economic stimulus package and brutal economic reports roll in.

But on Thursday, stocks sustained a rally after starting the day lower. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 106.41 points, or 1.34 percent, to 8,063.07, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 1.64 percent, or 13.62 points, to 845.85. The Nasdaq increased 2.06 percent, or 31.19 points, to 1,546.24, helped by gains in computer stocks.

“The market’s going to move sideways until we see what Washington comes up with,” said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research.