Stocks rose mostly higher on Thursday as bets on another massive stimulus package and increased government spending under the new Biden administration turned economic recovery sentiment positive. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 Index closed at record highs, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperforming as investors were optimistic towards quarterly earnings reports from other FAANG stocks next week after Netflix's (NFLX  ) earnings beat.

President Joe Biden began his term on Wednesday by signing over a dozen executive orders aimed at addressing the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, global relations, and rolling back some of the Trump administration's controversial immigration policies. Biden also signed more orders on Thursday that will help with the nation's strategies moving forward with the pandemic.

Meanwhile, weekly unemployment claims fell by a more-than-expected rate for the week ended Jan. 16, according to fresh data from the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims totalled 900,000, which was better than the 935,000 expected and the previous week's revised total of 920,000. Continuing unemployment claims also improved at a faster-than-expected pace, totaling 5.054 million in its latest report, down from the revised 5.181 million from the week prior.

Here's how the market settled on Thursday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.03% or +1.22 points to 3,853.07

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.04% or -12.37 points to 31,176.01

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.55% or +73.67 points to 13,530.92

For Stocks, shares of homebuilding stocks like KB Home, (KBH  ), Lennar Corporation (LEN  ) and D.R. Horton (DHI  ) rose higher after U.S. housing starts data beat expectations on Thursday. Major U.S. airline United (UAL  ) dropped 5.7% after reporting its fourth straight quarterly loss. The airline warned that its operations will continue to be impacted in the early part of 2021 as the pandemic continues.

For Sector Performance, most sectors on the S&P 500 ended Thursday's session lower despite the benchmark's closing high, with only Information Technology (XLK  ), Consumer Discretionary (XLY  ) and Communication Services (XLC  ) settling in positive territory. Energy (XLE  ) led the losing sectors, falling over 3%, with Materials (XLB  ) and Financials (XLF  ) rounding out the bottom three.

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) continued to slide against most global rivals on Thursday as investors remained optimistic towards another imminent massive U.S. stimulus package that would boost economic growth. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against other global currencies, fell 0.1% to 90.335. Gold (GLD  ) prices edged lower on Thursday, with a weakening dollar and stimulus outlooks limiting losses. Spot gold declined 0.2% to $1,867.56 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures settled with little changed at $1,865.90 per ounce. Crude oil futures fell slightly lower on Thursday following a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories which harmed demand outlooks, while positive stimulus hopes kept losses at a minimum. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO  ) slipped slightly to $56.05 per barrel, while domestic index West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) dropped 0.3% lower at $53.13 each.

For Friday, market participants will turn their attention to fresh data for service and manufacturing flash PMIs for January.