NEW YORK -- The Nasdaq composite index rose 20.89 points, or 0.4 percent, to close Thursday at 5,056.06, topping a record close of 5,048.62 it set March 10, 2000.
"It's a major psychological barrier, but in the end, it's just a number," said Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors.
Apple Inc. is the biggest and most profitable company on the planet and makes up a significant piece of the Nasdaq. Google, which didn't exist as a public company in 2000, also makes up a notable percentage of the index.
The Nasdaq's advance was part of a broader move higher by the stock market Thursday.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.42 points, 0.1 percent, to 18,058.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.97 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,112.93. The S&P 500 is about 4 points below the record high it set March 2.
The Nasdaq's close was a side attraction for many professional investors, who have been focused on companies that have been reporting their quarterly earnings and how the strong U.S. dollar has been having a negative impact on U.S. companies that rely a lot on overseas sales.
General Motors, 3M, Procter & Gamble and Caterpillar all reported earnings Thursday, saying the strong U.S. dollar hurt them.
Procter & Gamble, which makes Tide detergent and Gillette razors, said its profits were down roughly 7 percent and sales were down 8 percent from a year earlier.
Another consumer-products company, 3M, also reported lower profits because of the dollar.
While Caterpillar reported a better-than-expected profit for last quarter, the construction equipment-maker said it may face bigger issues later this year as long as the dollar remains strong.
"The results have been pretty consistent this earnings season. If you're an export-heavy company, your results have suffered from a strong dollar," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits was little changed last week, evidence that employers are cutting few jobs.
Weekly applications for jobless aid ticked up 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 295,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, increased to 284,500. Still, that is just 2,000 higher than three weeks ago when the average was at a nearly 15-year low.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The low level of the average is a sign of solid job security.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose $1.58, or 2.8 percent, to close at $57.74 a barrel in New York. The advance helped lift energy stocks, which gained 1 percent. Brent crude rose $2.12 to close at $64.85 a barrel in London.
Oil has been recovering slowly from low levels it hit in March, which investors have taken as a sign that prices are starting to stabilize after a year of declines.
In other trading of energy futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, wholesale gasoline rose 7.1 cents to $1.997 a gallon, heating oil gained 5.3 cents to $1.924 a gallon and natural gas fell 7.5 cents to $2.531 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Information for this article was contributed by Christopher S. Rugaber of The Associated Press.
Business on 04/24/2015