Stocks reached record levels on Thursday as fresh economic data showed a rebound in consumer spending, a strong unemployment report, and positive earnings reports from key companies. The Dow crossed the 34,000 threshold for the first time ever, while the S&P 500 rose to a new high and the Nasdaq outperformed as FAANG stock rebounding from weakness in the previous session.

Retail sales jumped 9.8% month-over-month in March, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday, its biggest surge since May 2020 following the latest round of stimulus checks and business reopenings. March's rise was greater than the 5.6% expected and rebounded from the 2.7% decline in February.

Meanwhile, new weekly jobless claims improved at a more-than-expected rate last week, totaling a pandemic low of 576,000 for the week ended April 10. This reading was well below the 700,000 expected and the previous week's upwardly revised 769,000. However, continuing unemployment claims totaled a higher-than-expected 3.731 million.

Here's how the market settled on Thursday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +1.11% or +45.76 points to 4,170.42

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.90% or +305.10 points to 34,035.99

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +1.31% or +180.92 points to 14,038.76

For Stocks, Coinbase (COIN  ) shares rose but ultimately closed lower after the stock was boosted by its first buy rating and $500 per share price target, as well as Cathie Wood's Ark Invest buying about $250 million worth of shares. Virgin Galactic (SPCE  ) turned negative for the year after a regulatory filing showed founder Richard Branson sold more than $150 million worth of the space tourism company's stock over the past three days.

For Sector Performance, sectors closed out the session mostly higher, with only Financials (XLF  ) and Energy (XLE  ) settling in the red. Lead gainers were Real Estate (XLRE  ), Information Technology (XLK  ) and Health Care (XLV  ).

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) ended Thursday's session little changed as investors weighed bullish U.S. economic data against slipping U.S. Treasury yields. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six other currencies, reached a one-month low of 91.487 earlier in the session, before paring losses and rising to 91.608. Gold (GLD  ) prices rose on falling treasury yields as investors looked to hedge against possible upcoming inflation. Spot gold gained 1.8% to $1,766.50 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures settled 1.8% higher at $1,766.80 per ounce. Crude oil prices settled higher on Thursday following the previous sessions nearly 5% jump. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO  ) rose 0.54% to $66.94 per barrel, while domestic index West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) settled 0.49% higher at $63.46 each.

For Friday, traders will turn their attention to April's preliminary consumer sentiment reading as well as Morgan Stanley (MS  ) and State Street (STT  ).