The U.S. stock market hit the ground running following the Christmas break, with the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index setting new intraday highs. The Nasdaq jumped over the 9,000 mark for the first time ever and the S&P continued its growth above 3,000. All three market indices closed with another set of record highs.

Here's how the U.S. stock market closed Thursday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.51% or +16.53 points

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.37% or +105.94 points

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.78% or +69.51 points

In U.S. Holiday News, Mastercard (MA  ) revealed that total U.S. retail sales from November 1 to December 24 jumped +3.4% from this same time period last year. Amazon (AMZN  ) also announced that it had a record-breaking holiday season. The company stated more consumers tried Prime memberships this holiday season when compared to 2018, furthermore this holiday season saw the number of Prime Free One/Same day delivery nearly quadruple the record from last year.

In U.S. Stock Sector News, all but Health Care, with a drop of -0.12%, saw gains Thursday. The stock share increases include Consumer Discretionary +1.43%, Communication Services +0.81%, Information Technology +0.74%, Financials +0.55%, Real Estate +0.54%, Materials +0.41%, Industrials +0.23%, Utilities +0.18%, Consumer Staples +0.14% and Energy +0.01%.

In Commodity and Currency News, oil prices posted mixed results Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate slightly decreasing -0.05% and Brent Crude increasing over +1%. Gold also dropped in later afternoon trading, closing at $1,511.55 per ounce. However, Gold is on trick to have its best growth year in a decade. Lastly, the U.S. Dollar closed slightly lower Thursday, with the DXY Index decreasing -0.13%.

The stock market is gearing to be mild on Friday due to no major economic data releases or corporate earning announcements scheduled. Nonetheless, the 'Santa Claus Rally' seems to have begun with a strong start as all three major indices continue to climb.