NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks closed the day on the plus side Thursday, holding strong amid some weak economic reports, as the Dow managed its second straight close above 9,000.

The Nasdaq composite (up 11.36 to 1646.01, Charts) clocked the strongest gains, rising 0.7 percent. The S&P 500 index (up 3.90 to 990.14, Charts) managed to close 0.4 percent higher, while the Dow Jones industrial average (up 2.32 to 9041.30, Charts) just barely ended in positive territory.

Stocks fought to extend gains, bringing the Dow and the S&P to highs not seen since late last summer and the Nasdaq to its highest level in more than a year.

The day's key economic report -- a weekly count of first-time filings for unemployment benefits -- showed a surprise jump, which put stocks under pressure from the start. Adding to the weight, the government said factory orders slipped.

The reports gave fuel to speculation about whether the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates again at its meeting this month. While the major U.S. markets have rallied over the past two months, economic reports continue to be mediocre. Economists have said it would take strength in jobs reports and renewed business spending to solidify investor security.

"At some point investors are going to cash in some chips," said Charles Crane, chief market strategist at Victory SBSF Capital Management. "We are getting close to the end of the quarter, and we have to keep that in mind. The next few weeks will be as choppy as the last few, but I wouldn't expect, barring [unforeseen circumstances], the market to have too much risk."

Friday's jobs report, due before the start of trading, is likely to be a big focus for investors. Economists, on average, expect that the unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in May from 6.0 percent in April, according to a survey by Briefing.com.

Meanwhile, Wall Street forecasts a drop of 30,000 in May non-farm payrolls, which would be better than the 48,000 decline in the previous month.

Dow component Intel (INTC: up $0.46 to $21.84, Research, Estimates) also is likely to garner attention Friday. In its mid-quarter update after the closing bell Thursday, the top chipmaker narrowed the range of its sales forecast for the second quarter to between $6.6 billion and $6.8 billion. But the midpoint of the range -- $6.7 billion -- is unchanged from its previous guidance of $6.4 billion to $7 billion.

Analysts, on average, expect Intel's sales to come in at the low end of the company's guidance, at $6.6 billion, according to First Call. Shares of Intel slipped 1.7 percent in after-hours trading Thursday.

Some investors used weak economic reports released early Thursday as an excuse for selling after several days of strong gains.

The Labor Department said the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to 442,000 in the week ended May 31 from a revised 426,000 the prior week. Economists, according to a Reuters poll, had expected the number of newly unemployed to have shrunk a bit to 420,000. The weekly tally has not tipped below 400,000 -- a level that signals a contracting labor market -- since mid-February.

The number also suggested that those expecting the unemployment rate to have climbed to 6.1 percent or even 6.2 percent in May when the monthly non-farm payrolls survey is released Friday could be right.

Separately, the government said new factory orders posted their largest drop in 17 months in April, sinking 2.9 percent after rising 2.1 percent in March. Analysts were expecting a drop of 1.5 percent.

"We're still getting more negatives on the economic front today, and this is a period where we're really looking for economic growth to avoid a Fed rate cut," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Trust.

Among the various sectors in the stock market, retailers were wobbly, just like their less-than-stellar same-store sales for May. Wal-Mart (WMT: up $0.76 to $54.62, Research, Estimates), the world's largest retailer, saw its shares rise 1.4 percent after it reported sales that were weaker than the same period a year earlier but in line with expectations.

The performance of other retailers was mixed. These included Target (TGT: down $0.15 to $37.55, Research, Estimates), which reported a 0.7 percent rise in May same-store sales and said it expects sales to rise between 1 percent and 3 percent in June. Nordstrom (JWN: up $0.62 to $19.70, Research, Estimates), Costco (COST: down $0.50 to $36.93, Research, Estimates), J.C. Penney (JCP: up $0.73 to $18.58, Research, Estimates), AnnTaylor Stores (ANN: up $1.24 to $28.48, Research, Estimates) and Limited Brands (LTD: up $0.14 to $15.69, Research, Estimates) also posted increases in their same-store sales in May.

Microsoft (MSFT: down $0.78 to $24.09, Research, Estimates), a Dow component and a major Nasdaq stock, gave back 3.1 percent after its CEO, Steve Ballmer, said Wednesday that his company is facing challenges from slower information technology spending and the free Linux operating system.

Market breadth was positive, with about five stocks rising for every three that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume stood at 1.7 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, winners also edged past losers by about a five-to-three margin as 2.4 billion shares changed hands.

U.S. Treasury bonds turned lower. The 10-year note yielded 3.34 percent after its price slipped 13/32 of a point. The dollar was slightly weaker against the euro after the European Central Bank cut interest rates. The greenback also weakened against the yen.

Among key commodities prices, light crude oil for July delivery rose 69 cents to $30.74 a barrel in New York. Gold rallied $5.90 to $369.50 an ounce in New York.

European stock markets ended the day mostly lower. Stocks in Asia finished off their trading session mostly higher.