S&P 500 closes at record as investors weigh encouraging labor-market data and stimulus prospects

S&P 500 closes at record as investors weigh encouraging labor-market data and stimulus prospects

The S&P 500 closed at a new high on Thursday as investors hoped the labor market could be turning a corner and remained optimistic for a large federal stimulus package.New jobless claims reached an unadjusted 793,000 for the week that ended Saturday, the Labor Department said. That missed economist estimates the foresaw filings totaling 760,000, but was a five-week low. 

"With Covid cases and hospitalizations plummeting, the economy is now starting to re-open, albeit very slowly and patchily, but the direction of travel is clear," said Ian Shepherdson, Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Economist. "The seasonal patterns suggest that claims likely dip only slightly over the next few weeks, but the dominant force as the spring arrives will be the fading of Covid and the reopening."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi doubled down on pushing Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion package through by early March before enhanced unemployment insurance lapses.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET close on Thursday:

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Dating app Bumble surged as much as 85% on Thursday as shares publicly traded hands for the first time following the