Stocks close higher as Wall Street caps a month during which it got its mojo back.

Wall Street got its mojo back in January after finishing 2018 with its worst December since 1931.

Stocks finished higher Thursday, closing out the month with the best gain for the S&P 500 index since October 2015.

A series of strong corporate earnings helped power the monthlong rally, which followed a dismal December that nearly brought the benchmark index into a bear market, meaning a decline of 20 percent from a recent peak.

Facebook helped drive the market higher Thursday after reporting solid user metrics. Charter Communications soared after its revenue came in ahead of forecasts. General Electric also climbed. Amazon reported earnings after the close of regular trading that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

Homebuilders surged after new data showing sales of new U.S. homes soared in November.

Strong results and outlooks from big U.S. companies seem to be calming some of the fears investors had that a recession might be looming.

“Overall, we’re still encouraged that this earnings season is comforting to people,” said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial.

The S&P 500 index rose 23.05 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 2,704.10. It rose 7.9 percent in January. In December, it tumbled 9.2 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15.19 points, or 0.1 percent, to 24,999.67. The Nasdaq composite climbed 98.66 points, or 1.4 percent, to 7,281.74. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 12.48 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 1,499.42.

Communications, health care, and consumer goods and services stocks powered Thursday’s market gain as investors remained focused on corporate earnings, which have been mixed.

Facebook beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue forecasts, despite an increase in spending on privacy and security. Its user base grew to 2.32 billion, up 9 percent from a year earlier and higher than analysts’ forecasts. The stock rose 10.8 percent to $166.69.

General Electric reported mixed results for the fourth quarter, but revenue and profit were still higher across most of its segments. The industrial conglomerate has been cutting costs and spinning off units for years in a bid to boost its bottom line. The stock climbed 11.6 percent to $10.16.

Microsoft fell 1.8 percent to $104.43 after the technology company swung to a profit in its latest quarter, driven by revenue growth at its cloud computing platform. The results beat forecasts, but the company’s key personal computing segment fell short of estimates.

Homebuilders climbed on new data showing sales of newly built homes soared in November. The Commerce Department said new home sales jumped 16.9 percent in November from the previous month. Despite the healthy gain, sales remain 7.7 percent below the pace from a year earlier. The report was delayed by the 35day government shutdown.