Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday, with the three main U.S. indices positioned for their biggest weekly gains since mid-March.

The Dow Jones Industrial rose by 1.61 percent, the S&P 500 gained by 1.99 percent and the Nasdaq Composite jumped by 2.68 percent.

Stock markets have taken a beating this year as central banks have begun to raise interest rates to curb the highest consumer price rises in decades.

But U.S. stocks pushed higher since Wednesday after investors expect Fed to be able to halt additional rate hikes as soon as this summer if inflation recedes.

Meanwhile, oil prices surged above $117 a barrel, hitting levels not seen since March.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group rose by 14.8 percent after quarterly revenue beat estimates and shares of Baidu jumped by over 12 percent as quarterly revenue gain surpassed expectations.

(With input from agencies)