S&P sets another record high, near 1,600

U.S. stocks surged on Thursday, propelling the S&P 500 to new record highs, as the country's weekly jobless claims fell to a five-year low and the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates to a record low.

The S&P 500 touched a record intraday high of 1598.60 points, less than two points shy of 1,600 points, in the afternoon trading. The index soared 14.89 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 1,597. 59 points, its new all-time closing high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 130.63 points, or 0.89 percent, to 14,831.58 points. The Nasdaq Composite leapt 41.49 points, or 1.26 percent, to a 12.5-year high of 3,340.62 points.

U.S. stocks opened higher Thursday on encouraging jobs data. In the week ending April 27, the number of Americans initially applying for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell 18,000 to 324, 000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The market also regained momentum after the ECB cut its benchmark refinancing rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 0. 5 percent.

The Federal Reserve kept its stimulus policy in place on Wednesday. However, the Fed changed its previous dovish tone to a more neutral one, saying it was prepared to "increase or reduce the pace of its purchases to maintain appropriate policy accommodation as the outlook for the labor market or inflation changes."

Among other economic data, U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services decreased to 38.8 billion U.S. dollars in March from the revised 43.6 billion dollars in the prior month, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Meanwhile, nonfarm business productivity increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2013 after a sharp drop of 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter last year, the Labor Department said in a separate report.

In corporate news, General Motors shares rose 3.25 percent to 31.16 dollars a share after the largest U.S. automaker reported first-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimate.

Shares of ING U.S. closed at 20.84 dollars a share in its New York Stock Exchange debut Thursday after the insurance company priced its IPO at 19.50 dollars a share.

Intel shares edged up 0.50 percent to 24.11 dollars a share after the world's largest semiconductor chip maker named Chief Operating Officer Brian Krzanich to replace Paul Otellini as its next chief executive officer.

On other markets, oil prices pared losses on Thursday, boosted by the latest U.S. jobless claims figure and ease monetary policies from global major central banks.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped 2.96 dollars, or 3. 25 percent to settle at 93.99 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for June delivery increased 2.9 dollars, or 2.9 percent to close at 102.85 dollars a barrel.

The U.S. dollar advanced against major currencies on Thursday for the first time this week on the ECB's rate cut.

In late New York trading, the euro slipped to 1.3057 dollars from 1.3211 dollars of the previous session and the British pound dropped to 1.5532 dollars from 1.5589 dollars. The Australian dollar fell to 1.0257 dollars from 1.0292 dollars.

The dollar bought 97.96 Japanese yen, higher than 97.40 yen of the previous session. It edged up to 0.9352 Swiss francs from 0. 9258 Swiss francs and went up to 1.0076 Canadian dollars from 1. 0065 Canadian dollars of the previous trading day.