Wall Street led a pretty choppy session on Thursday as investor sentiment continued to sour amid increasing coronavirus cases in states like Arizona, Florida and Texas following the Memorial Day weekend holiday. Trading was also impacted by last week's total unemployment claims topping expectations, leading to more concern about the timeline for economic recovery. In the end, major benchmarks ended the session flat from Wednesday's close.

The Labor Department's weekly unemployment insurance claims for the week ended June 13 totaled 1.508 million, slightly down from the prior week's revised reading of 1.566 million, but still stubbornly high. Continuing claims also fell by less than expected by consensus economists for the week ended June 6, which totaled 20.544 million. That total was slightly down from the prior week's revised total of 20.606 million, but economists had hoped that the number would tick below 20 million by now.

Here's how the market settled on Thursday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.06% or +1.86 points to 3,115.35

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.15% or -39.51 points to 26,080.10

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.33% or +32.52 points to 9,943.05

In Major Stock News, retail stocks like Gap (GPS  ), Kohl's (KSS  ) and Nordstrom (JWN  ) all struggled in the current volatile market as investors continue to weigh coronavirus fears will reopening optimism. Energy stocks like Occidental Petroleum (OXY  ), Phillips 66 (PSX  ) and Valero (VLO  ) all gained as crude futures continue to improve from their April lows. Spotify (SPOT  ) shares soared on Thursday following a report from The Well Street Journal the the streaming app reached an exclusive deals with Kim Kardashian West and DC Comics for podcasting.

In Stock Sector News, most sectors traded lower on Thursday, with the exception of Energy +1.20%, Consumer Staples +0.54%, Information Technology +0.48% and Materials +0.05%. The rest of the negative performance declines were as follows: Real Estate -1.34%, Industrials -0.33%, Health Care -0.30%, Consumer Discretionary -0.21%, Financials -0.09%, Utilities -0.04% and Communication Services -0.01%.

In Commodity and Currency News, crude oil futures ticked upwardly on Thursday as demand sentiment continues to improve. West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) rose 2.37% to price at about $39 per barrel, and Brent Crude (BNO  ) gained 1.8% to price over $41 per barrel. Gold (GLD  ) dropped -0.28% on Thursday, pricing the metal around $1,730. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) continues to gain some strength, with the DXY Index increasing +0.33%.

For Friday, market participants will be focused on coronavirus headlines. No economic data is slated to be released.