Stocks advanced on Thursday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 climbing to fresh all-time intra-day highs in late morning trade after data showed jobless claims dropped more than expected.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 56.02 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 14,859.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.85 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 1,593.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up just 0.50 of a point, or 0.02 per cent, at 3,297.75.
The Dow reached a record intra-day high at around 11:21 am, rising as high as 14,882.53. The S&P 500 quickly followed suit, touching an all-time intra-day high of 1,597.35 at 11:27 am.
On Wednesday, both the Dow and the S&P 500 had climbed more than 1 per cent to close at new record highs after three straight days of gains.
