Stocks rose Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting a new record, following the release of upbeat U.S. economic data.

The broad market index climbed 0.40% to 5,745.37. The index posted a new all-time high during the session and a record close, lifted by gains in Micron Technology. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.60%, closing at 18,190.29. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 260.36 points, or 0.62%, to end at 42,175.11.

Micron closed 14.7% higher after issuing strong guidance for the current quarter. Results for Micron's fiscal fourth quarter also topped analysts' estimates. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) added 2.9%.

A slate of fresh data supported a solid economy, easing fears that perhaps the Federal Reserve is cutting rates aggressively because of a potential slowdown.

Weekly jobless claims fell more than expected, pointing to a steady labor market. Durable goods orders for August were unchanged versus economists' expectations for a decline. Further, the final reading of second-quarter GDP was unrevised at a strong 3%.

"If there's a problem in the labor market, it's not showing up in the weekly jobless claims data. As is always the case, though, the monthly jobs report will play a bigger role in defining market sentiment," said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing for E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. "But until there's evidence to the contrary, numbers like this will likely keep soft-landing hopes alive and well."

Both the S&P 500 and the Dow fell Wednesday, taking a breather from their recent strong runs. Both indexes had hit fresh all-time highs earlier in the day.

Stocks close higher, S&P 500 hits another record

Stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 earning another record-high close for the third time this week.

The broad market index advanced 0.4% to close at 5,745.37. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% to 18,190.29, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 260.36 points, or 0.62%, to finish the session at 42,175.11.

— Brian Evans

Coinbase and MicroStrategy jump to July and August highs, respectively

Crypto stocks rallied on Thursday as the price of bitcoin climbed back above $65,000 and the broader market rallied.

Coinbase was higher by 8% in late afternoon trading, its biggest up move since July 19. On Wednesday the stock snapped a six-day win streak, its longest rally since March.

MicroStrategy was last higher by 10%, its biggest move since Aug. 23 and about twice the size of its typical daily move.

Mining stocks, whose prices are also tied to the price of bitcoin, saw sizeable gains as well. Mara Holdings, formerly Marathon Digital, and CleanSpark each gained 8%.

— Tanaya Macheel, Nick Wells

Southwest pops after executives share plan to raise profits, airlines rise in sympathy

Southwest Airlines shares jumped more than 7% on Thursday, catching a boost as leadership at the company detailed plans to improve profits.

The company's three-year plan will increase earnings before interest and taxes by $4 billion in 2027. Features include assigned seating and extra-legroom seats starting in 2026.

The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) and NYSE Arca Airline Index both climbed about 5%, while United Airlines advanced nearly 9% and JetBlue gained about 8%.

Falling oil prices may have also helped lift airline stocks, as West Texas Intermediate crude futures tumbled more than 3% on Thursday.

Read more about Southwest's plans for raising profits from CNBC's Leslie Josephs here.

— Darla Mercado

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

Here are the stocks moving the most during midday trading:

• Micron Technology, chip stocks — Shares surged nearly 13% after the memory chipmaker issued strong guidance as the rise of AI heightens demand for its products. Other chip stocks rose alongside, with Applied Materials, ASML Holding and Lam Research last up about 4% each.
• Super Micro Computer — Shares plummeted more than 12% following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the Justice Department has opened a probe into the AI server maker.
• Southwest Airlines — The airline's stock jumped 11% after the company raised its third-quarter revenue forecast and authorized $2.5 billion in share buybacks. The company also announced several changes to its business model as it attempts to fend off activist Elliott Investment Management.

Read the full list of stocks on the move here.

— Samantha Subin

'Lofty' valuations doesn't mean it's time to turn to small caps, says HSBC

Even as worry that large-cap stock valuations could be outstretched grows, it isn't quite time to fully pivot to small caps, according to HSBC.

"As the S&P 500 surges to record highs, valuations are one of the main pushbacks. Yes, valuations look lofty," Nicole Inui, HSBC head of equity strategy, Americas, wrote in a Wednesday note. "We argue that much of this frothiness and loftiness is due to the dominance of the 'big' companies in the index, not only big tech but also big retail, big banks, and big pharma."

"We do not believe it is time to position into small caps. Historically, small caps have underperformed following a Fed easing cycle, even when a recession does not materialize," Inui said.

— Brian Evans

S&P 500 has hit all-time highs more than 1 out of every 5 trading days this year

If it feels like you're hearing phrases such as "all-time highs" associated with the S&P 500 a lot, you're right.

The broad index has reached record levels on more than 1 out of every 5 trading days so far in 2024, according to Oppenheimer. The S&P 500 is tracking to end the calendar year higher by more than 20% as of late Thursday morning.

— Alex Harring

Super Micro Computer drops 10% on report of Justice Department probe

Shares of Super Micro Computer plummeted more than 10% in late-morning trading following a Wall Street Journal report that the AI server maker is being investigated by the Justice Department.

The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said that a former employee accused the company of accounting manipulations.

Last month, shares dropped nearly 38% after the company delayed its annual fiscal report and Hindenberg Research disclosed a short position, alleging accounting violations.

— Samantha Subin

Micron Technology heads for best day since 2011

Shares of Micron Technology surged 17%, putting the memory chipmaker on pace for its best day on record since November 2011.

The rally in Micron followed a strong quarterly print and guidance, driven by growing AI demand for memory chips.

Shares have rallied 32% since the start of 2024 and 17% in September.

— Samantha Subin

Stocks open higher

Stocks opened higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 notching its latest record high.

The broad market index advanced 0.68%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 249 points, or 0.58%.

— Brian Evans

Economic data comes in around expectations

A batch of economic releases Thursday morning came in right around or slightly better than market expectations, solidifying the notion that the U.S. macro picture is steady:

• Initial jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 21 totaled 218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous period and slightly better than the 223,000 Dow Jones estimate. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, rose to 1.834 million, a touch below the FactSet forecast.
• Orders for long-lasting "durable goods" orders for items such as aircraft, appliances and computers, were little changed for August, better than the estimate of a 3% decline.
• Gross domestic product rose at a 3% annualized rate in the second quarter, according to the last of three readings from the Commerce Department. That was in line with market expectations.

— Jeff Cox

Stocks making the biggest moves Thursday premarket

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.

Starbucks — Shares of the coffee chain rose more than 2% after Bernstein upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform. The firm is bullish on new CEO Brian Niccol, who began on Sept. 9. 

New York Community Bancorp — Shares of the regional lender gained more than 4% after Barclays upgraded shares to overweight as it repositions itself following a rocky patch.

Micron Technology, chip stocks — Micron shares surged nearly 17% after the company offered a stronger-than-expected revenue forecast for the fiscal first quarter. Other chip stocks also rose in tandem Thursday morning. Nvidia rose 2%, while U.S.-traded shares of ASML Holding added nearly 5%. 

— Hakyung Kim

Fed's rate-cutting cycle could help 'spark broader market opportunities' in 2025, Wells Fargo says

The Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle should be a positive for U.S. equities and the domestic economy, according to Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

"We expect this series of rate reductions to help spark broader market opportunities next year," Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at the firm, said in a Wednesday note to clients. "While we are looking for the economy to slow to a more moderate pace into year-end, our base case does not include a recession."

According to Wren, central bankers could implement 200 basis points or more of interest rate cuts between now and the end of next year. Under this scenario, the strategist said, he continues to prefer quality large-cap domestic stocks over riskier small-cap names and U.S. equities over international plays. On the international front, he prefers developed international companies over emerging markets.

Wren added that he holds these views despite being aware of potential risks to U.S. economic growth such as the upcoming presidential election and increasing tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine.

— Pia Singh

Trump's trade proposals could stoke further inflation, says Piper Sandler

Some of the provisions in former President Donald Trump's proposed trade policies, such as a steep tariff on Chinese imports, could end up stoking inflation, according to Piper Sandler.

"Trump's trade policies would produce greater inflation and slow economic growth but the tariffs will likely be more heavily concentrated on intermediate goods rather than consumer products," analyst Andy Laperriere wrote Thursday.

"Harris' [tax] policies, by letting the 2017 tax reforms expire and seeking an expanded child tax credit (among other safety net expansions), would harm the higher end consumer and be a tailwind for the low and middle end consumer," the analyst added.

— Brian Evans

China ETFs surge after Chinese officials affirm stimulus measures

Chinese stock ETFs rallied in the premarket after officials held a meeting affirming the government's efforts to stimulate China's economy. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) and the iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) jumped more than 6% each.

"China continues to dominate the headlines with their stimulus measures," traders at JPMorgan wrote. "In the near-term, the tactical rally can continue as (1) The magnitude of the current rally is just
half of what we've seen in "trading risk-on" episodes in China in recent years, and (2) The flurry of positive news likely continues over the next month as more easing policy announcements are drip-fed into the market."

— Fred Imbert

European stocks open higher

European stocks opened sharply higher Thursday, spurred on by overnight gains in Asia-Pacific markets.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 1% during early morning deals, with almost all sectors in positive territory.

— Sam Meredith

Nvidia has the 'worst' investing odds among the Magnificent Seven, says Aswath Damodaran

The odds may be against Nvidia when it comes to investing, according to New York University's Aswath Damodaran.

"With Nvidia, the odds are against you because of how high a price you're paying," the "Dean of Valuation" told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Wednesday. During Wednesday's session, Nvidia shares rose more than 2% to a closing price of $123.51, passing $3 trillion in market capitalization.

"Nvidia is the perfect momentum play in either direction," he continued, saying that's because it has nothing to do with fundamentals or the state of the business. "If you're a trader, I can see why Nvidia is going to be where you're going, but as an investor, I think the worst odds are with Nvidia."

Moving forward, Damodaran said, he believes that expectations for the chip darling must eventually be "reset."

"You've priced this company to be the most amazing company of all time," he said. "Where's the upside left? If it's just amazing rather than the most amazing company, that's a disappointment, so I think this is something you're going to see the back-and-forth on in terms of expectations."

— Sean Conlon

Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: Micron Technology, H.B. Fuller and more

These are the stocks moving the most in extended hours trading:

• Micron Technology — The semiconductor manufacturer soared 13% after issuing strong guidance for the current quarter.
• H.B. Fuller — The adhesives company fell nearly 10%. H.B. Fuller's adjusted earnings in the fiscal third quarter came in at $1.13 per share on revenue of $918 million.
• Concentrix — Shares plunged 14%. The customer experience solutions company posted fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.87 per share, while analysts were looking for $2.93 per share, according to FactSet.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Dow futures are little changed

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded near flat on Tuesday night.

Dow futures slipped just under 0.1% shortly after 6 p.m. ET, while S&P 500 futures were trading marginally higher. Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.2%, lifted higher by shares of Micron.

— Lisa Kailai Han