The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday with Dow Jones bouncing back toward the record closing high set on Tuesday. Some support came as report released by Labor Department showed labor productivity in the U.S. grew by much more than expected in the third quarter of 2025. The Labor Department said labor productivity soared by 4.9 percent in the third quarter after spiking by an upwardly revised 4.1 in the second quarter. The street had expected labor productivity to surge by 3.6 percent compared to the 3.3 percent jump that had been reported for the previous quarter. Besides, traders took note of report that U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $29.4 billion in October from a downwardly revised $48.1 billion in September. The street had expected the trade deficit to increase to $58.9 billion from the $52.8 billion originally reported for the previous month. Besides, traders avoided to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

On the sectoral front, aerospace, defense stocks continued to get attention as US President Donald J. Trump has said he wants to raise the country's military budget to a whopping $1.5 trillion for fiscal year 2027, calling the increase necessary to keep the United States safe in what he described as dangerous times.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 270.03 points or 0.55 percent to 49,266.11, S&P 500 rose 0.53 points or 0.01 percent to 6,921.46, while Nasdaq declined 104.259 points or 0.44 percent to 23,480.016.