Investing.com – US stocks closed higher on Thursday as investors remained focus on Washington as signs of progress on the tax reform bill, fuelled optimism that a final bill would reach President Donald Trump for approval before year-end.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 24,212.24. The S&P 500 closed 0.30% lower while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6812.84, up 0.54%.
U.S. Senate Republicans agreed Wednesday to talks with the House of Representatives on tax legislation, raising investor hopes that both chambers would be able to reconcile the difference between their tax bills and agree on a final tax bill before year-end.
Tax reform is widely expected to provide the US economy with a fiscal boost and has been one of the key catalysts for the recent rally in US stocks.
Technology stocks led the rally on Wall Street for the second-day in a row as large cap tech names such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) managed to add to Wednesday’s gains after a slump on Tuesday.
On the economic front, investors cheered data showing the {{ecl-294|s| number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance}} for the week ended Dec 2. fell by 4,000 to 236,000, beating expectations for a drop of 2,000.
The initial jobless claims report comes a day ahead of nonfarm payrolls data expected to show the US economy created 200,000 jobs in November.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) up 1.8%, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) up 1.5% and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) up 1.5%
Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) down 1.4%, Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) down 1.3% and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) down 0.9%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.