(Reuters) - U.S. stocks eked out gains in volatile trading on Thursday, ahead of a long Easter weekend, as strong results from industrials countered another drop in healthcare stocks, with investors shrugging off release of the Mueller report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales increased by the most in 1-1/2 years in March as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and a range of other goods, the latest indication that economic growth picked up in the first quarter after a false start.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will continue with reviews, begun by her predecessor, of its public complaints database and how the agency enforces discriminatory lending laws, she told Reuters.

(Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers and economists are awaiting a key analysis of the economic impacts of the new North American trade deal, expected to be published late on Thursday and to show minimal gains at best for the United States.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Thursday estimated that its new North American trade deal will create 76,000 automotive sector jobs within five years as automakers invest some $34 billion in new plants to comply with the pact's new regional content rules.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States won a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on Thursday against China's use of tariff-rate quotas for rice, wheat and corn, which it successfully argued limited market access for U.S. grain exports.

(Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve policymaker on Thursday said he is "getting more confident" in U.S. economic growth this year but still thinks current interest rates are appropriate.

(Reuters) - South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co on Thursday named former Nissan executive Jose Munoz as its global chief operating officer.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is starting its search for a new governor of the Bank of England to succeed Mark Carney who is due to step down in January 2020.