• US stocks climbed on Thursday as investors remained focused on China's reopening plans. 
• The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged, while Tesla rose for a second straight session. 
• Investors were encouraged by new jobless claims data the suggested the Fed could soften rate hikes.

US stocks soared at the close on Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge. 

The Nasdaq Composite climbed more than 2% while Tesla notched a second straight session of gains, clawing back some of the heavy losses that have pushed shares down more than 60% this year. Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 rose more than 1%. 

Investors are showing signs of optimism heading into the final trading session of the year, with fresh jobless claim data fueling hope that the Federal Reserve could move to pause rate tightening in 2023. Claims for state-level unemployment benefits climbed to 225,000 last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, but the labor market remains exceedingly tight. 

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. market close on Thursday: 

• S&P 500: 3,849.28, up 1.8%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,220.80, up 1.1% (345 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 10,478.09, up 2.6%

Here's what else is going on: 

• Here's Insider's list of the biggest market losers in 2022 led by Elon Musk and Sam Bankman-Fried. 
• Fundstrat says low investor sentiment means the market is nearing a bottom. 
• Credit Suisse thinks the risk of a US recession is declining and predicts a rally in stocks. 

In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• Oil prices fell, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.86% to $78.29 a barrel.
• Brent crude, the international benchmark, also declined 0.59% to $83.49 a barrel.
• Gold climbed 0.67% to $1,816.19 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield slipped 4.9 basis points to 3.837%.
• Bitcoin was 0.13% lower to $16,601.07.