NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed at record high for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, as investors digested a slew of economic reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 113.75 points, or 0.50 percent, to 22,775.39. The S&P 500 was up 14.33 point, or 0.56 percent, to 2,552.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 50.73 points, or 0.78 percent, to 6,585.36.
In the week ending Sept. 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 260,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 272,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
The 4-week moving average was 268,250, a decrease of 9,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 277,750, said the department.
U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday that the goods and services deficit was 42.4 billion U.S. dollars in August, down 1.2 billion U.S. dollars from July's revised reading.
New orders for manufactured goods in August, up two of the last three months, increased 5.4 billion U.S. dollars or 1.2 percent to 471.7 billion U.S. dollars, said the Commerce Department in a separate report.
All three major indices posted record high for three consecutive sessions from Monday to Wednesday as the market renewed hope for tax reform.
The Trump administration and U.S. Congressional Republicans last week released a unified framework for tax code reform which will cut tax rates for both businesses and individuals.
However, the plan lacks details on how to consolidate fiscal position in face of big tax cuts. Enditem
