Gold and silver miners also strengthened, along with precious metals, as a low interest rate environment would help foster greater inflation down the line and keep pressure on the U.S. dollar. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) increased 2.2%, Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDXJ) gained 2.5% and Global X Silvers Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SIL) rose 3.2%.
Emerging markets, which previously saw heightened outflows on concerns of a higher interest rate, bounced back as an environment of easy money would help fuel riskier trades. Leading the emerging markets Thursday, the iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF (NYSEArca: EWM) added 2.2% and iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (NYSEArca: EIDO) was up 1.5%.
High-yield assets were also strengthening as a low-rate environment would bolster demand for increased yields among fixed-income investors. For instance, on Thursday, the iShares Residential Real Estate Capped ETF (NYSEArca: REZ) rose 0.9%, iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped ETF (NYSEArca: REM) advanced 1.7% and Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLU) gained 1.6%.
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Max Chen contributed to this article.