U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday as investors digested a batch of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 251.22 points, or 0.95 percent, to 26,656.98. The S&P 500 increased 22.80 points, or 0.78 percent, to 2,930.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 78.19 points, or 0.98 percent, to 8,028.23.

The Dow hit its first record high since January with Caterpillar and Intel among the outperformers. Shares of both companies gained more than 2 percent at the close.

Technology, consumer staples and materials led the gainers of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rebounded after a negative previous session.

On economic data, in the week ending Sept. 15, U.S. initial jobless claims stood at 201,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level, the Department of Labor said on Thursday. The 4-week moving average was 205,750, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's unrevised average.

U.S. total existing-home sales remained unchanged in August from July rate, according to the National Association of Realtors' latest monthly report. The reading missed market forecasts.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.4 percent in August to 111.2, following a 0.7-percent increase in July.