India, June 26 -- After ending the previous session little changed, stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day just shy of their record closing highs.

The major averages all posted strong gains on the day. The Nasdaq jumped 194.36 points or 1.0 percent to 20,167.91, the Dow advanced 404.41 points or 0.9 percent to 43,386.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 48.86 points or 0.8 percent to 6,141.02.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has helped propel the major averages well off their April lows despite lingering uncertainty about tariffs.

The advance has helped lift stocks back within striking distance of re...