Wall Street snapped a three-day losing streak Thursday, thanks to a continued drop in new unemployment claims.

First-time applications for jobless assistance dropped to 444,000 last week, that's the third straight drop, and the lowest number since the health crisis pushed millions out of work last year.

The Dow rallied 281 points. The S&P 500 gained 53. The Nasdaq surged 250 points.

Despite the strong session, market internals point to a stock market that could face more turbulence ahead, says Reuters stocks buzz editor Terence Gabriel.

"When you see sort of the pillars of support within the broader market start to deteriorate as they have done, then there are fewer and fewer stocks holding up the market. And therefore, it can be vulnerable to a change in sentiment and a deeper decline."

In company news: Ford was in the spotlight after unveiling an electric version of its best-selling F-150 pickup truck. The company says customer demand is so strong that it is increasing production targets. The Ford F-150 Lightning is due out later this year. Shares of Ford rose 3 percent. By the way, electric car leader Tesla was up as well.

Retail had a breakdown Thursday. High-end apparel maker Ralph Lauren saw a 10 percent dive in North American sales last quarter and the company gave a company-wide full-year sales outlook that was below analysts estimates. The stock was down 7 percent.

Shares of Oatly, the maker of plant-based milk backed by A-listers such as Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z and Natalie Portman, soared in their stock market debut after raising $1.4 billion in an IPO.