The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed lower on Thursday, as market bellwether Nvidia retreated from earlier gains, while investors evaluated recent economic data and commentary from Federal Reserve officials to determine the timing of interest-rate cuts this year.

Earlier, the S&P 500 hit the crucial 5,500-point mark for the first time ever, a year-end target multiple brokerages had forecast. Nasdaq ended a seven-session streak of record closing highs.

Shares of Nvidia dropped 3.54 percent after rising earlier in the session. The chipmaker dethroned Microsoft on Tuesday to become the most valuable public company.

Dell and Super Micro Computer also declined 0.42 percent and 0.26 percent respectively after an initial increase, following news that they received server orders for Elon Musk's AI startup.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits declined last week, but the latest data showed that the overall number of people on benefits rolls reached the highest level since January, indicating that the US job market continues to cool.

Another set of data showed US single-family homebuilding fell in May amid continued high mortgage rates.

“The news that we got today was just another negative weakness in the economy”, said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt in Atlanta. “In the employment report, you're getting those (unemployment) claims that are not terrible, but it's.. getting into a territory that's not low necessarily anymore."

Meanwhile, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said it would take a year or two to get inflation back to 2 percent, as wage growth might still be too high, spurring worries of interest rates staying elevated for longer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.77 percent, to 39,135, the S&P 500 lost 0.25 percent, to 5,473 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.79 percent, to 17,722.

Kroger fell 3.27 percent after striking a cautious tone on near-term consumer spending, as it reaffirmed its full-year same-store sales and profit forecasts despite topping first-quarter estimates. (Reuters)