It remains to be seen if the data heralds a rebound in consumer spending, but Wall Street drew confidence from the figure and reversed its early declines shortly into the session.
Wall Street's performance followed a rebound on world markets that saw Japan's Nikkei up 6.4 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng post its biggest single-day gain in more than a decade.
Best Buy shares have doubled since the start of the year, but some Wall Street analysts think there is a limit to how much the stores can rebound as online electronics sales continue to grow.