NEW YORK: US stocks pushed higher Thursday after three straight falls boosted by a sharp downturn in US weekly jobless claims and Spain's surprisingly successful debt sale.
An hour into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 76.63 points (0.65 percent) at 11,900.11.
The broader S&P 500 rose 7.56 points (0.62 percent) to 1,219.38, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 6.66 points (0.26 percent) to 2,545.97.
Sentiment got a bump from the report that new jobless claims hit a three-year low last week, suggesting layoffs are slowing down and US businesses are feeling more confident.
"The latest unemployment claims readings are among the most promising signs in the recovery to date that the labor market may be seeing an uptick in job creation," said RDQ Economics.
Also helping was Spain's bumper bond sale, raising nearly twice the amount targeted as it snatched the chance to lock in competitive borrowing rates in the swirling eurozone debt crisis.
On Wednesday Italy was forced to pay record high rates in a bond sale, a sign of frailty which sent stocks on both sides of the Atlantic tumbling.
Shares of shipper FedEx gained 5.05 percent on a better-than-expected jump in earnings per share for its second quarter.
Novellus, which makes machinery for the manufacture of computer chips, soared 21.4 percent after Lam Research, another chip equipment producer, agreed to buy it for $3.3 billion in stock. Lam shares fell 2.9 percent.
Medical equipment maker Sonosite's shares leaped 26.8 percent after Fujifilm offered to buy it for $54 a share, compared to Wednesday's close of $42.24. Fujifilm rose 2.7 percent.
US bond prices eased slightly after Thursday's jump as the euro rebounded after its two-day plunge.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.93 Percent from 1.90 percent on Wednesday, while the 30-year edged up to 2.92 percent from 2.91 percent.
As bond prices go up, the yield goes down.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.