The Nasdaq has powered closer to 5000 points, with weakness in oil-linked equities keeping the Dow and S&P 500 in the red.

At Thursday’s closing, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was at 4,987.89, up 20.75 points (0.42 per cent).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.80 (0.05 per cent) to 18,124.77, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 3.06 (0.14 per cent) at 2,110.80.

Tech giant Apple jumped 1.3 per cent after it sent invitations for a March 9 event in San Francisco expected to launch the Apple Watch.

Other outperformers that helped lift Nasdaq near 5000, a level not breached since the year 2000, included Google (+2.1 per cent) and Tesla Motors (+1.7 per cent).

Oil giant Chevron fell 1.4 per cent and oil-services company Schlumberger lost 1.6 per cent as crude prices fell sharply on worries about excess supplies.