Stocks rose Thursday as a high-flying 2023 drew to a close on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) remained near an all-time closing high of 4,796.56 for the second day in a row. The reference average, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all rose more than 0.1%.
The Nasdaq has gained more than 44% this year. If that holds, it would be the major average's best year since 2003.
Stocks entered Thursday looking to rack up a ninth straight week of gains. If the S&P 500 achieves another positive week, it would be the longest weekly winning streak for the benchmark average since 2004.
New economic data showed that jobless claims increased slightly in the week ending December 23. Americans filed 218,000 unemployment claims, up from 205,000 the previous week and above the 210,000 that economists had projected.
Economists have generally been closely monitoring the labor market for any signs of weakness that could indicate the U.S. economy is headed for a broader slowdown in 2024, but Thursday's data did little to raise concerns.
"Companies have been extremely reluctant to lay off workers they have struggled to find over the past three years," Jefferies U.S. economist Thomas Simons wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. "We doubt they can retain everyone indefinitely, but they are going to try... The chances of a soft landing in the labor market have increased, but some type of landing is surely coming."
Also in economic data, the latest publication of the pending home sales index remained at 71.6 in November, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Thursday. The index reading was the lowest since its founding in 2001 and was below the 0.9% increase economists had expected.
Also in the housing data, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased to 6.61% up from 6.67% the previous week, according to data released by Freddie Mac on Thursday. Mortgage rates are now at their lowest levels since May.
Josh Schafer is a Yahoo Finance reporter.
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