Stocks were slightly higher in afternoon trading Thursday as the market looks to add to its gains from earlier in the week.

The Dow closed slightly higher on Thursday while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower in the second day of a so-called Santa Claus rally period.

Since the start of 2024, the S&P 500 has never once closed below its 200-day moving average, according to Bespoke Investment Group. Barring a sharp selloff between now and the end of the year, this would be only the 12th time since 1952 that this has happened.

According to the latest Labor Department data, weekly jobless claims fell to 219,000 compared with expectations of 223,000. However continuing claims pointed to a cooling labor market, jumping by 46,000 in the week ending Dec. 14 to 1.91 million, the highest level since November 2021.

Some of the biggest winners were mega-cap tech stocks, with Tesla up by 6% while Broadcom, Netflix, and Amazon each gained about 2%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 66.69 points or 0.2% to end at 42,906.95 for its third straight daily gain, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 went up 43.22 points or 0.7% to finish at 5,974.07.

The Dow Jones rose on the stock market today. Magnificent Seven names Amazon and Nvidia were strong. American Airlines stock skidded.

Kaltbaum Capital Management's Gary Kaltbaum and Scarlet Oak Financial's Frances Newton Stacy give their economic outlook heading into 2025 on 'Your World.'

The Santa Claus rally got off to a strong start with Tesla leading the Nasdaq higher. Nvidia just topped a buy point.