NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks finally hit their straps Thursday after struggling for most of the week.

"We were overdue for a rebound, and a lot of the recent weakness may be explained by further tax loss selling once the Santa Rally didn't materialize," Louis Navellier, founder, and chief investment officer of growth investing firm Navellier & Associates, told CNBC Thursday.

"We'll have further volatility into the new year with plenty of uncertainty about whether a soft landing is possible and if not, how much resolve the Fed will have not to pivot if we tip into a serious recession," Navellier said.

The Nasdaq Composite did best, rising 264.80 points or 2.59 percent to 10,478.09.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 66.07 points or 1.75 percent to 3,849.29.

The Dow Jones industrials jumped 345.09 points or 1.05 percent to 33,220.80.

On foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar was sold off. The euro swelled to 1.0671. The British pound rose to 1.2068. The Japanese yen was in demand at 132.94. The Swiss franc rose to 0.9226.

The Australian dollar advanced to 0.6779. The New Zealand dollar appreciated to 0.6350. The Canadian dollar firmed to 1.3544.

On overseas equity markets, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.21 percent Thursday. The German Dax rose 1.05 percent. In Paris, France, the CAC 40 was up 0.97 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 246.83 points or 0.94 percent to 26,093.67.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was off 157.77 points or 0.79 percent at 19,741.14.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 13.70 points or 0.44 percent to 3,073.70.

The Singapore Straits Times index dropped 17.73 points or 0.54 percent to 3,249.24.

The Australian All Ordinaries retreated 64.90 points or 0.89 percent to 7,197.30.

In Indonesia, the Jakarta Composite edged up 9.56 points or 0.14 percent to 6,860.08.

South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 44.05 points or 1.93 percent to 2,236.40.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 inched down 0.86 of a single point or 0.01 percent to 11,538.45.