Stocks traded higher on Thursday following a better-than-expected weekly jobless claims report and more positive news towards a new U.S. coronavirus stimulus package. However, near-term stimulus hopes are beginning to fade as talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continue beyond previous deadlines; additional stimulus is becoming more of a 'when' not 'if' scenario and market participants are less optimistic that a package will be passed ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3.

The Department of Labor's fresh release on weekly unemployment claims for the week ended Oct. 17 showed that only 787,000 Americans filed for first time unemployment insurance benefits. The reading was far below the expected 870,000 and the lowest level the reading has reached since the beginning of the pandemic. However, the results do not show the true extent of the unemployment market, with an increasing number of individuals shifting into longer term jobless programs like the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program under the CARES Act that extends beyond initial unemployment insurance.

Here's how the market settled on Thursday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.52% or +17.93 points to 3,453.49

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.54% or +152.84 points to 28,363.66

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.19% or +21.31 points to 11,506.01

For Major Stock News, banks lead gains as the 10-year Treasury Yield reached a four month high: Bank of America (BAC  ), Citigroup (C  ), Goldman Sachs (GS  ), JPMorgan (JPM  ) and Morgan Stanley (MS  ) all advanced. Gap (GPS  ) shares soared to new 52-week highs following the apparel retailer's Investor Day, which highlighted on the company's new strategy shift towards e-commerce and off-mall locations. Pandemic-impacted companies like Las Vegas Sands (LVS  ) and Southwest Airlines (LUV  ) both rallied following smaller-than-expected losses. General Motors (GM  ) shares gained after the carmaker announced that there was strong demand for the brand's electric Hummer.

For Sector Performance, Energy (XLE  ) continued its recent trend of volatile gains and losses, this time increasing 4% but only gaining 1% compared to last week. Financials (XLF  ) were also a big gainer at about 2% on Thursday, with bank stocks climbing on the rally in Treasury yields. Health Care (XLV  ) and Utilities (XLU  ) also gained over 1%. The rest of the sectors made minimal gains and losses on Thursday, with Real Estate (XLRE  ) becoming the day's worst performer due to increasing housing price rates.

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) index rose slightly higher on Thursday as near-term stimulus hopes began to fade and global coronavirus cases continued to grow. The dollar index was up 0.22% at 92.932. Gold (GLD  ) slipped lower on the strengthening dollar, with positive jobs data and doubts towards stimulus dampened the appeal of the yellow metal. Spot gold fell 1.1% to $1,903.16 per ounce, while gold futures sunk 1.35 to $1,904.60 per ounce. Crude oil futures gained following their lows on Wednesday even as multiple factors threatened positive demand outlook. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO  ) increased 2.18% to $42.64 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.4% higher to $40.64 per barrel.

For Friday, investors will digest the outcome of the final U.S. presidential debate between President Donald Trump and challenger former Vice President Joe Biden.