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Dow, S&P 500 close at records

New York - The Dow and S&P 500 notched fresh records Thursday on strong US economic data and a jump in oil company shares thanks to rebounding crude prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.27 points (0.19%) to 17 719.00, besting the prior mark by more than 30 points.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 4.03 (0.20%) to 2 052.75, also a new peak, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 26.16 (0.56%) to 4 701.87.

A regional manufacturing index from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia surged unexpectedly, while the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index, an amalgamation of several key economic indicators, also improved.

US existing-home sales gained in October for the second straight month.

Oil stocks including Apache (+3.0%) and ConocoPhillips (+1.5%) rose as US oil prices advanced.

Dow component Intel bolted 4.7% higher as it raised its annual dividend by six cents to 96 cents per share. The chipmaker also forecast 2015 revenue growth in the mid-single digits.

Online game developer Activision Blizzard shot up 7.9% after it said lifetime sales of the popular "Call of Duty" game rose above $10 billion following its latest launch.

Best Buy surged 7.0% as third-quarter earnings came in at 32c/share, 7c above analyst expectations. The electronics retailer pointed to "encouraging" trends as it enters the key holiday-shopping season, but warned that the environment remains highly competitive.

Kitchen equipment retailer Williams-Sonoma soared 8.4% as fourth-quarter net income rose 14.4% to $64.9m behind strong gains in online sales.

Dollar Tree advanced 5.2% after reporting third-quarter same-store growth of 5.9%, its highest level since 2011.

Salesforce, a provider of cloud computing services to businesses, fell 4.5% after projecting revenues of $6.45bn to $6.50bn in the coming fiscal year, below the market's forecast for $6.66bn.

Speciality coffee company Keurig Green Mountain dropped 7.4% following news that Frances Rathke would step down as chief financial officer in fiscal 2015 and shift into a strategic advisory role at the company. Keurig Green Mountain has hired an executive search firm to find a replacement.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.34% from 2.35% on Wednesday, while the 30-year declined to 3.05% from 3.07%.

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