Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Robinhood and more

U.S. stocks rose sharply at midday after a report showed retail sales in July were much stronger than expected, easing fears of a possible recession. The Dow and S&P 500 rose over 1% and the Nasdaq gained more than 2%.

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) acquired a stake in the beauty retailer.

Walmart (WMT) shares jumped after the retail giant reported better-than-expected results and raised its forecast as inflation-fearing shoppers flocked to its stores.

Robinhood (HOOD) shares rose as Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock on optimistic views on demand for electronic brokerage services.

Shares of T-Mobile US (TMUS) lost ground after U.S. regulators fined the company $60 million for failing to prevent and report unauthorized access to confidential data. Shares of rivals AT&T (T) and Verizon Communications (VZ) also lost ground.

Grab Holdings (GRAB) shares slipped after the Singapore-based ride-sharing company missed its revenue forecasts and issued a weaker-than-expected forecast amid falling passenger spending.

Oil and gold futures rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose sharply. The US dollar gained against the euro and the yen, but fell against the pound. Trading in most major cryptocurrencies was mixed.