All three main equity benchmarks closed higher Thursday and the Dow and S&P 500 booked a third straight record finish after fresh labor-market data provided insight on the pace of the recovery. The moves for stocks came even as a reading for wholesale inflation came in hotter than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.04%
closed up less than 0.1% at 35,499, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.30%
advanced 0.3% to 4,460, led by gains in health care
XLV,
+0.79%
and technology
XLK,
+0.57%.
The S&P 500 and the Dow closed at records in three consecutive sessions for the first time since March 15, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
+0.35%
advanced 0.4% at 14,816. Economic data showed first-time claims for jobless benefit benefits came in at 375,000 last week, matching estimates and near a pandemic low. The producer-price index was up 7.8% year over year in July versus 7.3% in June, while the core PPI reading, which excludes food and energy, accelerated to 6.1% from 5.5%. In corporate news, shares of Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc.
PLTR,
+11.36%
rose more than 11% after the data analysis company posted stronger-than-expected revenue for the second quarter and reiterated long-term guidance.