Stock market today: Live updates

The S&P 500 rose Thursday, registering its best first-quarter performance in five years.

The broad market benchmark was up 0.11% to settle at 5,254.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 47.29 points, or 0.12%, and finished at 39,807.37. Both indexes closed at records, and the S&P 500 hit a fresh all-time high during the session. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.12% to end at 16,379.46.

For the quarter, the S&P 500 added 10.2% for its best first-quarter gain since 2019, when it rallied 13.1%. The 30-stock Dow advanced 5.6% during the period for its strongest first-quarter performance since 2021 when it jumped 7.4%. The Nasdaq ended the quarter with a 9.1% pop.

On the month, the S&P 500 was higher by 3.1%. The Nasdaq added 1.8% in March, while the Dow climbed 2.1%. It was the fifth straight winning month for all three major averages.

Driving the gains this quarter and month has been Nvidia, last year’s market leader, as the artificial intelligence craze shows no signs of slowing. The stock soared 82.5% for the quarter and gained 14.2% in March alone.

The early 2024 rally lifted the major U.S. stock benchmarks to records in March. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 jumped to an all-time closing high.

On the economic front Thursday, initial filings for unemployment insurance for the week that ended March 16 came in at 210,000, slightly lower than the 211,000 that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted.

“As we head into next week, the data gets a lot heavier so we’ll have more catalysts to drive things around, but I would say on balance this has been the end to a really good month and a really good quarter and it’s nice to finish up and head into the weekend on a super upbeat tone,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth.

The market will be closed due to Good Friday, but economic data tied to personal income, consumer spending and personal consumption expenditures will be released that day.