U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Higher, Dow Reaches New Record High WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the mixed performance seen in the previous session, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. With the upward move, the Dow reached another new record closing high. The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow jumped 318.19 points or 0.9 percent to 34,548.53, the Nasdaq rose 50.42 points or 0.4 percent to 13,632.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 34.03 points or 0.8 percent to 4,201.62. The strength that emerged on Wall Street came following the release of a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended May 1st.