US equity indexes ended higher Thursday after President Donald Trump appeared willing to wait for Iran to review Washington's latest proposal to agree on a framework for a peace deal.

* Iran said it is reviewing the Trump administration's latest proposal to end the war after the US president said he was prepared to wait a few more days to "get the right answers" from Tehran, CNBC reported.

* US initial jobless claims last week fell to 209,000 from an upwardly revised 212,000 in the previous week, compared with expectations for 210,000 in a Bloomberg survey.

* April housing starts fell 2.8% to a 1.465 million annual rate from March, compared with a 1.41 million rate expected in a Bloomberg survey.

* July West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $0.76 to settle at $97.50 per barrel, while July Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.81 at $104.21.

* IBM (IBM), GlobalFoundries (GFS), and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) said they are set to receive billions of dollars in US government backing as part of the Trump administration's move to solidify the nation's lead in quantum computing. IBM shares rose 12%, the top gainer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

* Intuit (INTU) shares fell 20%, the biggest drop on the S&P 500, after the company said it expects to incur $300 million to $340 million in restructuring charges from a plan to cut its workforce by 17%, primarily in fiscal Q4.