U.S. stocks finished significantly higher on Thursday, with the Nasdaq breaking above the 9,000 mark for the first time ever.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 105.94 points, or 0.37 percent, to 28,621.39. The S&P 500 advanced by 16.53 points, or 0.51 percent, to 3,239.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped by 69.51 points, or 0.78 percent, to 9,022.39.

Three major averages all hit new all-time highs during the session.

Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with consumer discretionary up 1.43 percent, outpacing the rest. Health care fell by 0.12 percent, the only decliner.

Apple stock climbed by 1.98 percent, leading the gainers in the Dow.

Amazon soared by 4.45 percent after the e-commerce giant said the holiday shopping season broke all previous records.

On the data front, in the week ending December 21, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, came in at 222,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level, the Department of Labor said Thursday. The number was higher than economists' estimates of 220,000 polled by Dow Jones.