Nasdaq Composite Index: +1.12% or +151.11 points to 13,693.23

S&P 500 Index: +1.00% or +43.42 points to 4,393.35

Stocks gave up their early session gains by the end of Thursday's trading day as investors weighed the Federal Reserve's hawkish monetary policy against the latest GDP report and fresh quarterly earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a negative flatline, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped 0.5% and 1.4% lower, respectively, after both benchmarks traded in positive territory earlier in the session.

Here's how market benchmarks started trading soon after open:

Here's how the market settled on Thursday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -0.54% or -23.43 points to 4,326.50

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.02% or -7.31 points to 34,160.78

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -1.40% or -189.34 points to 13,352.78

Tesla drops as investors sell on new vehicle delays:

Tesla (TSLA  ) shares dropped nearly 12% on Thursday after the electric vehicle maker said it would not produce new models this year and has yet to start working on the highly anticipated $25,000 EV. CEO Elon Musk noted in a fourth-quarter earnings call late Wednesday that Tesla is dealing with the global semiconductor shortage's impact.

Still the company is working on a non-vehicle related innovation; during the Q4 earnings call, Musk said the company plans to use this year to invest in research and development of a humanoid robot to work in the companies' manufacturing factories.

"The most important product development we're doing this year is actually the Optimus humanoid robot," Musk told investors. "This, I think, has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time."

Pending home sales decline in December:

Pendings sales of U.S. homes fell for a second straight month in December, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Pending sales serve as an indicator for the overall health of the housing market.

The NAR's Pending Home Sales Index fell 3.8% year-over-year in December, continuing November's decline of 6.9% annually. The index tracks the number of homes that are under contract to be sold.

"Pending home sales faded toward the end of 2021, as a diminished housing supply offered consumers very few options," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said in a press statement. "Mortgage rates have climbed steadily the last several weeks, which unfortunately will ultimately push aside marginal buyers."

Weekly unemployment claims ticked lower:

First-time unemployment filings dipped lower for the first time in four weeks last week, signalling that at least some of the Omicron variant's impact on the labor market may be easing.

Initial jobless claims totaled a less-than-expected 260,000 for the week ended Jan. 22, according to the U.S. Labor Department's latest report published Thursday, falling from the previous week's upwardly revised total of 290,000.

Meanwhile, continuing unemployment claims rose to a total of 1.675 million for the week ended Jan. 15, ticking higher from the prior week's downwardly revised print of 1.624 million.

U.S. GDP expands in Q4:

U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) expanded in the final months of 2021, as strong consumer spending helped offset early Omicron variant impacts.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Thursday that the U.S. economy expanded at a higher-than-expected annualized rate of 6.9% in the fourth quarter, accelerating from the third quarter's 2.3% annualized rate--its slowest since 2020.

Here's how market benchmarks started trading soon after open:

S&P 500 Index: +1.00% or +43.42 points to 4,393.35

Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.83% or +285.29 points to 34,453.38