U.S. equities surged at midday following a report showing that July retail sales were much stronger than anticipated, easing fears of a possible recession. The Dow and S&P 500 were up over 1%, and Nasdaq added more than 2%.

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

Shares of Walmart ( WMT ) jumped as the retail giant posted better-than-expected results and boosted its guidance as inflation-weary shoppers flocked to its stores.

Robinhood ( HOOD ) shares gained as Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock on optimism about demand for electronic brokerages.

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

Grab Holdings ( GRAB ) shares slid after the Singapore-based ridesharing firm missed revenue forecasts and gave weaker-than-anticipated guidance as rider spending declined.

Oil and gold futures advanced. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note soared. The U.S. dollar was up on the euro and yen, but fell to the pound. Trading in most major cryptocurrencies was mixed.