US markets end in green on Thursday

10 May 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended in green on Thursday following the release of a Labor Department report showing a much bigger than expected increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 4th. The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 231,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's revised level of 209,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 210,000 from the 208,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the much bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 234,000 in week ended August 26th. The data may add to recently renewed optimism that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.

On the sectoral front, Telecom stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, resulting in a 4.2 percent spike by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index. Significant strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came amid an increase by the price of gold. Commercial real estate stocks also showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index up by 2.1 percent. Among individual stocks, shares of AppLovin skyrocketed after the mobile technology company reported first quarter results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Glasses retailer Warby Parkeralso showed a substantial move to the upside after reporting a narrower than expected first quarter loss on revenues that exceeded estimates.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 331.37 points or 0.85 percent to 39,387.76, Nasdaq rose 43.51 points or 0.27 percent to 16,346.26 and S&P 500 was up by 26.41 points or 0.51 to 5,214.08.