Trading on Wall Street finished on a higher note on Thursday as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to record highs mostly due to the hope of Washington deciding on stimulus before the end of this year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that a coronavirus relief deal was near while the US President-elect Joe Biden also urged Congress to pass a new stimulus bill to alleviate the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. On the data front, the number of initial jobless claims stood at 885,000 in the week ending December 12, increasing by 23,000 compared to the previous week.

The Dow Jones gained 0.49% or 148 points at the close with Johnson & Johnson increasing by 2.64%. The S&P 500 was up 0.58% as Lennar Corp jumped by 7.62%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 surged 0.66%. Lululemon Athletica was the best performer rising by 6.33%.

The euro increased by 0.61% against the greenback, trading for 1.22591 at 3:56 pm ET.