U.S. stocks settled mixed on Thursday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 250 points. Defense stocks surged Thursday, erasing the prior session’s losses, after President Donald Trump floated a sharp increase in U.S. military spending that caught Wall Street’s attention.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was outperforming the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Thursday. With the Dow up roughly 350 points today, it's not too far from record territory. The current record close for the Dow is 49,

Monday’s gains put the Dow in the lead among major U.S. equity benchmarks, with the index advancing 1.5% on the session. Among individual components, several key names contributed notably to the rally including shares of Chevron ( CVX) which have gained more than 5%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record all-time highs in 2025 with many of the components ending the year higher. Along with serving as a well-known barometer of overall market health, the index offers some of the top yielding blue-chip stocks.

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index declined to 46.6, remaining in the Neutral zone. Dow Jones fell 450 points, while Intel gained 7% on new products at CES.

The Dow industrials have notched their best start to a year in more than two decades. The blue-chip index rose 2.9% through the first three trading days of 2026. That's the most it has gained in that period in 23 years.

U.S. stock indexes were mixed in Wednesday's final hour of trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average moving away from its all-time closing high and investors positioning around technology-driven names.

From the technical point of view, Dow Jones received support in the 48,700 – 48,800 range and rebounded towards the 49,300 level. A move above this level will push Dow Jones towards the resistance at 49,500 – 49,600. For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.