The Dow closed up fractionally, the S&P gained about three-tenths of a percent and the Nasdaq climbed just shy of one percent.A Commerce Department report showed retail sales rebounded strongly in January, surging 3% - well past the 1.8% estimate from economists polled by Reuters.That means consumers are still buying cars and other goods despite high prices - as data a day earlier showed that consumer prices ticked up in January even though the pace of inflation is slowing."In my opinion, it all starts with the labor market..."Devon Drew is founder, CEO and CIO of DFD Partners."And the labor market's resilience is the main reason consumers continue to spend. And as long as that's the case, inflation will remain sticky. [FLASH] I'm just looking for the Fed to stay higher for longer, which should put some pressure on stocks and have continued muted returns until we get to that point where there's enough data where we can say, 'Hey, we can actually put a pause on things here."The S&P 500 has climbed 8% so far in 2023, while the Nasdaq has recovered 15% - both fueled by a rebound in growth stocks that were hammered in last year's stock market downturn.On Wednesday, shares of Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Tesla rose between 1.4% and 2.4%.Roblox soared 26% after the gaming platform popular with kids topped quarterly bookings estimates.And shares of Airbnb rose over 13% after giving a bullish revenue forecast due to strong travel demand.