U.S. stocks were higher Thursday, as investors reacted to the retail sales and jobless claims numbers.
Both reports were largely in line with expectations—retail sales for May were up 1.2 percent, as opposed to the expected 1.1 percent. Jobless claims fell within 2,000 of their expected total (279,000 actual vs. 277,000 estimated.)
Wall Street was hoping for an extension of yesterday’s rally that saw the major indices close in the black for the first time in a week. Investors’ spirits have been buoyed by an uptick in oil prices and a softening in U.S. dollar strength.
This morning, the Dow was up more than 100 points, but gains were cut in half as concerns renewed over the Greek credit crisis.
Here are the final numbers from Thursday on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 18,039.37 (+38.97)
NASDAQ: 5,082.51 (+5.82)
S&P 500: 2,108.86 (+3.66)