U.S. stock indexes recovered from two days of losses on Thursday after technology stocks got a boost from Cisco results and Wal-Mart soared to a record high.

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Shares of Wal-Mart rose 7 percent after the world`s largest retailer reported quarterly sales that beat expectations on hurricane-related purchases and soaring online sales.

Cisco shares surged 6.7 percent as strength in security business helped its earnings.

Both the stocks powered the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones indexes.

"One of the most remarkable stories of this year is Wal-Mart and they are again proving that with their results today," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in Boston.

The S&P 500 recorded its biggest percentage decline in more than 2 months on Wednesday as energy stocks dropped on sliding crude prices and concerns over the passage of a tax revamp after two Republican senators were critical of the proposal weighed.

The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress is approaching a major test of its ability to overhaul tax code on Thursday, as lawmakers prepared for their first full-scale vote on sweeping tax legislation.

At 9:50 a.m. ET (1350 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 127.36 points, or 0.55 percent, at 23,398.64, the S&P 500 was up 11.39 points, or 0.44 percent, at 2,576.01 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 48.38 points, or 0.72 percent, at 6,754.58.

Nine of the 11 major S&P indexes were higher, led by gains in consumer staples and technology stocks.

Folgers coffee maker J M Smucker rose about 6 percent, while Viacom slipped 8.25 percent after reporting results.

Best Buy fell 6.61 percent as quarterly same-store sales came in below estimates, hurt by a late launch of iPhone X.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,900 to 774. On the Nasdaq, 1,878 issues rose and 598 fell.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)