A surge in the energy sector pushed stocks higher Thursday, while investors considered the weekly jobless claims report.
The report released this morning showed 281,000 jobless claims, in line with expectations but slightly higher than last week’s figure of 268,000. This was the first report since Friday’s disappointing jobs figure of 126,000.
The continued strength of the dollar weighed on stocks this morning, as the Euro fell almost 1% against the U.S. currency. The Euro is now trading below $1.07 against the dollar.
Later in the day, the energy sector moved up as much as 1.5%, leading a late-day rally to push stocks into the black for Thursday.
Oil prices attempted to recover after a 7% plunge on Wednesday, due in large part to an extraordinary buildup in inventory—the highest in 14 years. Earnings season gets into full swing today, after Alcoa got things started yesterday when they reported higher-than-expected earnings, but missed revenue estimates.
Here are the final numbers from Wall Street on Thursday:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,958.79 (+56.28)
NASDAQ: 4,974.56 (+23.74)
S&P 500: 2,091.18 (+9.28)
