NEW YORK -- Stocks ended trading higher Thursday with the S&P up for a fourth session, after data suggested improvement in the labor market ahead of Friday's closely watched monthly payrolls report.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 80.75 points, or 0.60 percent, to 13,575.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 10.41 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,461.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.23 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,149.46.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose only slightly last week after a big drop the week before, keeping in place a trend that indicated a mild improvement in the labor market.
The S&P 500 has climbed 16 percent so far this year. That strong gain, combined with weak global economic data and questions of whether Spain's bailout will come to pass, have prompted some investors to say the rally is starting to look overextended.
"The bulls have control over this market, clearly. When there is no terrible news, the market goes up," said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners in New York.
"U.S. equities are considered as flight to quality, which is quite surprising considering the fact that the economy is not that strong."
The Federal Reserve may adopt numerical thresholds for inflation and joblessness that would serve as guideposts for policy, according to minutes from a September meeting that revealed some reticence about the U.S. central bank's latest stimulus.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, the Labor Department said, below economists' expectations for an increase to 370,000.
"The claims data was actually OK, with two weeks in a row now below 370,000, after two weeks prior above 380,000," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist and portfolio manager at Miller Tabak in New York. "We await obviously tomorrow's payrolls number."
Below, a CNBC panel discusses how Mitt Romney's performance in Wednesday's debate may have helped stocks.
