At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 36.12 points, or 0.12%, to 30,723.60. The S&P 500 index increased 3.86 points, or 0.1%, to 3,830.17. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.23 points, or 0.02%, to 13,610.54.
The markets continued to benefit from the new batch of corporate earnings and better-than-expected jobless claims report. Stronger-than-expected results so far in the fourth quarter have driven up analysts' expectations, and S&P 500 companies are now on track to post earnings growth for the quarter instead of a decline as initially expected.
A report from the Labor Department showing a continued decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 30th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 779,000, a decrease of 33,000 from the previous week's revised level of 812,000.
Apple shares jumped 2.6% following reports it is close to a deal on producing its own autonomous vehicles in cooperation with South Korean giant Hyundai.
Shares of videogame retailer GameStop Corp and other recent favorites of retail investors fell again on Thursday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that she and financial market regulators needed to understand deeply what happened in the recent retail trading frenzy before taking any action. GameStop shares ended down 42.1%.
Economic News: US Factory Orders Jump 1.1% In December- US new orders jumped by 1.1% in December after surging up by 1.3% for three consecutive months, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. The bigger than expected increase in factory orders came as orders for non-durable goods spiked by 1.7%, while orders for durable goods rose by an upwardly revised 0.5%. Shipments of manufactured goods also shot up by 1.7% in December following a 0.8% increase in November.
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