Wall Street ends largely higher

U.S. stock indices closed mixed on Thursday but near record highs, with energy shares leading the way higher, which follows U.S. president Trump's promise to bring back million of outsourced jobs to Americans in a meeting with manufacturing CEOs, and to cut taxes and regulations.

Earlier data showed unemployment claims rising past expectations last week, while the EIA inventory report showed a big contraction in the country's inventory buildup.
 
Dow Jones closed up 0.17%, or 34.72 points to 20,810.32, while Standard and Poor's 500 gained 0.04%, or 0.99 points to 2,363.81. NASDAQ Composite shed 0.43%, or 25.12 points to 5,835.51.
 
Gold futures due on April 15 rose 1.37% to $1,250.20 an ounce from the opening price of $1,233.30, while the dollar index fell 0.24% to 100.98 from the opening of 101.38.
 
On another note, U.S. crude futures due on April 15 rose 1.47% to $54.38 a barrel from the opening of $53.59, while Brent crude futures due on April 15 added 1.15% to $56.48 a barrel from the opening of $55.84.