US stocks climb ahead of Thanksgiving as investors weigh lower oil prices and jobless claims

• US stocks climbed on Wednesday as Wall Street headed into the Thanksgiving holiday break.
• Oil prices and weekly jobless claims dropped, and shares of Nvidia after it reported earnings.

US stocks climbed on Wednesday as Wall Street eyed the Thanksgiving holiday break amid fresh economic and earnings reports.

Weekly jobless claims dropped by 24,000 compared to the prior week to 209,000. Meanwhile, the final reading of University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey showed that year-ahead expectations for inflation ticked up to 4.5% from a prior reading of 4.4%.

Bond yields ticked slightly higher after declining earlier in the day as the data could put more pressure on the Fed to keep rates higher for longer.

The slightly hotter view on inflation comes despite the recent drop in oil prices, which continued to fall Wednesday after OPEC+ pushed back its meeting to November 30 amid reports of discord among member countries.

Fresh earnings reports rolled in, led by mega-cap tech giant Nvidia. Late Tuesday, the AI chipmaker reported strong third-quarter results that saw revenue triple. But shares turned lower after edging higher in early trading.

After closing on Thursday, markets will reopen on Friday for a shortened trading session.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET closing bell on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 4,556.61, up 0.41%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,272.77, up 0.53% (+184.74 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 14,265.86, up 0.46%

Here's what else happened today:

• Gold prices are headed for all-time highs and could eventually hit $2,500 per ounce, Fundstrat said.
• Hedge funds have lost $43 billion trying to short the market as the S&P 500 eyes its best month in over a year.
• Investors are rushing into junk bonds as corporate debt sees the biggest inflow in 3 years amid risk-on bets.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• Oil prices crashed early in the day but pared their deepest losses. West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 1.1% to $76.85 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dipped 0.8% to $81.76.
• Gold slipped 0.6% to $1,989.70 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.422%.
• Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $37,342.70.