Stocks Rallied, Dow Closed above 24,000

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 hit a record closing high and the Dow broke above the 24,000 mark for the first time as the Senate Republicans made headway in their push to pass tax cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 331.67 points, or 1.39%, to 24,272.35. The S&P 500 gained 21.51 points, or 0.82%, to 2,647.58. The Nasdaq Composite added 49.58 points, or 0.73%, to 6,873.97.

Oil prices settled modestly higher on Thursday after OPEC members and other major oil producers agreed to extend their production-cut pact to the end of 2018. January West Texas Intermediate crude added a dime, or less than 0.2%, to settle at $57.40 a barrel. January Brent rose 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $63.57 a barrel.

CVS Health Corp is moving closer to a more than $66 billion (£48.74 billion) cash and stock deal to buy health insurer Aetna Inc which could be announced as early as Monday, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.