U.S. stocks were higher, with the Dow on pace for another record close, though equities were off their best levels of the session in afternoon trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, near 43,208, after setting an intraday high of 43,289.76, according to FactSet Data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced on Thursday to its fourth record close in the last five sessions, as stronger-than-expected monthly retail sales indicated a robust U.S. consumer and TSMC's upbeat forecast buoyed chipmakers' stocks.

NEW YORK >> The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pared their gains to end essentially unchanged today, while the Dow notched a record closing high as investors parsed an array of mixed quarterly earnings and digested a series of robust economic reports.