US close: Stocks firmer, S&P 500 finishes north of 4,000

Wall Street stocks closed in the green on Thursday, with the S&P 500 finishing above 4,000 for the first time in its history ahead of the Good Friday long weekend.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.52% at 33,153.21, while the S&P 500 added 1.18% to 4,019.87 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.76% to 13,480.10.

The Dow closed 171.66 points higher on Thursday, cutting into losses recorded in the previous session following the rollout of President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan.

Biden's multi-trillion dollar proposal, which includes spending on roads and bridges as well as green energy and water system upgrades, was still in focus after the open on Thursday.

"With the American Rescue Plan, we're meeting immediate emergencies. Now it's time to rebuild," said Biden.

This week's jobless claims report from the Department of Labor was also firmly in focus after unexpectedly rising last week.

According to the Labor Department, initial claims for state unemployment benefits totalled a seasonally adjusted 719,000 for the week ended 27 March, up from the prior week's print of 658,000 - the fewest since the middle of March 2020.

However, job cuts data from ChallengerGray&Christmas published earlier in the morning fell in March, down from 34,531 in February to 30,603.

Elsewhere on the macro front, the ISM's manufacturing PMI registered 64.7% in March, an increase of 3.9 points month-on-month, indicating expansion in the overall US economy for a tenth consecutive month after a contraction in April 2020.

IHS Markit's manufacturing PMI also rose to a final print of 59.1 in March from 58.6 in February.

Lastly, construction spending fell in February, likely due to a cold snap in parts of the US during the month.

According to the Commerce Department, construction spending decreased 0.8%, while data for January was revised down to show construction outlays increasing 1.2% instead of 1.7% as previously reported.

In the corporate space, Microsoft shares were 2.79% higher after revealing it had inked a $21.9bn deal to deliver more than 120,000 devices based on its HoloLens augmented reality headset to the US Army.

Micron Technology was ahead 4.76% after beating earnings expectations overnight, and Western Digital added 6.92%, after the Wall Street Journal revealed the pair were in talks to acquire Japanese semiconductor firm Kioxia for about $30.0bn.

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $218.73 3.23%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $242.35 2.79%
Visa Inc. (V) $216.86 2.42%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $189.06 2.41%
American Express Co. (AXP) $144.57 2.21%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $64.60 1.03%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $153.71 0.97%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $105.75 0.92%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $64.55 0.86%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $307.75 0.82%