The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 6.26 points, or 0.02 percent, to 35,603.08. The S&P 500 rose 13.59 points, or 0.30 percent, to 4,549.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 94.02 points, or 0.62 percent, to 15,215.70.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer discretionary up 1.38 percent, leading the gainers. Energy dipped 1.81 percent, the worst-performing group.
Tesla shares climbed more than 3 percent after the electric carmaker posted stronger-than-expected third quarter earnings after the bell Wednesday.
IBM shares slumped over 9 percent after the company issued third-quarter results with the revenue missing analysts' expectations.
Through Wednesday, 84 percent of the S&P 500 companies reporting have topped estimates, according to figures from The Earnings Scout, a macroeconomic research firm that specializes in corporate earnings trends.
On the economic front, the Department of Labor reported Thursday that U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, decreased by 6,000 to 290,000 for the week ending Oct. 16. Economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated new claims would total a seasonally adjusted 300,000.
The prior week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 293,000 to 296,000, showed the report.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly higher on Thursday with seven of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.
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