Investing.com -- U.S. stocks moved into record territory on Thursday, one day after the Federal Reserve sent its strongest indication in weeks that a June interest rate hike is unlikely.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.34 points to 18,285.74, moving higher for the fifth time in six sessions. The Dow set an all-time closing record on Tuesday when it ended the session at 18,312.39. The NASDAQ Composite index also neared a record closing high, gaining 19.05 or 0.38% to end Thursday's session at 5,090.79.
The S&P 500 Composite index, however, set a record closing high for the second time this week, after snapping a two-session skid. The S&P rose 4.97 or 0.23% to 2,130.82, as seven of 10 sectors closed in the green. The S&P was led by stocks in the Energy, Telecommunications and Technology sectors, each of which gained more than 0.4%. Stocks in the Financials and Utilities industries lagged.
Shares in CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) jumped 2.39% to 103.69, after the nation's second-largest drugstore, announced its intentions to acquire Omnicare Inc (NYSE:OCR) in a deal valued at $10.1 billion. Omnicare, a Cincinnati-based Fortune 500 company, which functions primarily as a prescription medicine supplier to nursing homes and other assisted living centers, gained 1.63 or 1.72% to 96.26.
One day after experiencing its lowest downside volume in more than three years, Southwest Airlines' (NYSE:LUV) shares ticked up modestly on Thursday. On Wednesday, shares in Southwest plunged more than 9% after the Dallas-based airliner announced plans to boost its capacity. The decline triggered a major sell-off in airlines stocks, which fell approximately 10% on the session.
The top performer on the Dow was Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 1.47 or 1.67% to 89.40. The worst performer was Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which fell 1.21 or 1.17% to 102.39. One day earlier, the pharmaceutical giant announced plans to seek approval for nearly a dozen new medicines -- all with potential for reaching $1 billion in annual sales. Johnson & Johnson is up more than 2.75% on the year.
On the NASDAQ, the biggest gainer was Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) Group PLC (LONDON:VOD), which rose 1.54 or 4.15% to 38.68 amid speculation of a merger with international cable company Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) B plc (NASDAQ:LBTYB). The worst performer was NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP), which dropped 3.56 or 10.08% to 31.77, after announcing that it will layoff 500 employees as part of a restructuring plan. Earlier this week, CEO Tom Georgens said he was not satisfied with his company's quarterly performance after its net income fell more than 30% on a year-over-year basis. The California-based storage and data-management firm also offered a forward guidance of 0.20 to 0.25 EPS, significantly below analysts' forecasts of a 0.60 EPS.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was Noble, which gained 0.76 or 4.51% to close at 17.63. Energy stocks dominated the S&P after crude futures surged more than 2.5% on the session. Net App was also the worst performer on the S&P 500, just below Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI) which dropped 1.32 or 3.69% to 34.41.