The threat of nuclear war seems higher than it has in ages, but the stock market wants what wants—and it wants to go higher. The S&P 500 rose more than 0.5% on Thursday and is less than a percentage point away from adding to the more than 50 record highs its hit this year.

Stocks are set for a cautious open Thursday following Nvidia's highly-anticipated third quarter earnings report.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed lower on Wednesday, taking a break from the prior session's rally as investors worried about escalation of Russia-Ukraine tensions and weak results from Target, while awaiting earnings from megacap Nvidia.