Wall St ends up

U.S. stocks closed near session highs Thursday,with the S&P 500 hitting a new intraday high on better-than-expected jobless claims report and key interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 130.63 points, or 0.89 per cent at close at 14,831.58.

S&P 500 added 14.89 points, or 0.94 per cent at 1,597.59, earlier hitting a fresh intraday high of 1,598.60.

Nasdaq composite surged 41.49 points, or 1.26 per cent to close at 3,340.62.

Most key S&P sectors closed in positive territory led by technology and energy shares, while utilities stocks closed in the red.