Market close: US shares rise, unemployment claims sink
By Joseph Toppe
21:00, 7 October 2021
The Dow rose more than 300 points on Thursday as jobless claims dropped and investors respond to US lawmakers extending the debt ceiling for the short-term.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 337.95 points, or 1% to 34,754.94, the S&P 500 improved 0.8% to 4,399.76, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.1% to 14,654.02.
Until today, the major averages were in the red for the week.
On Wednesday, the Dow turned a 459-point deficit at mid-day into a more than 100-point gain, as the S&P went up 0.4%, after falling as much as 1.27%, and the Nasdaq Composite improved 0.5%, after dropping as much as 1.2%.
Thursday’s winners
Shares for Twitter went up 4.4%, shares for Nvidia jumped 1.8%, while shares for AMD improved 2.7%.
Shares for General Motors are also on the rise, jumping 4.7% during Thursday’s trading as shares for Costco surged 0.8% following the company’s better-than-expected September sales.
In the energy sector, shares for Schlumberger went up 4% while shares for Marathon Oil went up 2.1%.
Shares of Helen of Troy jumped more than 6.8% to $233.04 per share Thursday after the consumer products company raised its outlook for the upcoming quarter and full year.
At mid-afternoon Thursday, the price of Henry Hub's December 2021 natural gas deliveries were up 1.55% to $5.76/MMBtu on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In assets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.570% Thursday from 1.524% a day earlier.
What is your sentiment on TLRY?
And losers
Tilray shares swiftly moved nearly 3% lower to around $10.47 per share as the market absorbed the news the Canadian cannabis company reported revenue and gross profit growth during its latest quarterly earnings report.
Debt ceiling extension
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat-New York, announced Democrats and Republicans have agreed to extend the debt ceiling through December.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen previously warned that a breach of the debt ceiling could occur as early as 18 October unless Congress acts.
Jobless claims drop, spur economy
The US labour market is on the mend as unemployment claims decrease for the first time in four weeks.
The latest data compiled by the US Department of Labor shows the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 326,000 for the week ending on 2 October, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week's revised level.
Although the report highlighted a decrease in weekly claims, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits has not returned to pre-pandemic levels in the low 200,000s.
Global markets
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 index increased 1.6%, while in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 3.1%, South Korea’s Kospi added 1.8%, and the Nikkei 225 jumped 0.5% higher.
Read more: Jobless claims drop, market experts point to improving economy
Markets in this article
Comments
Please note before commenting
There are currently no responses for this story.
Be the first to respond.