New York Report: Jobs hopes see best day of the year for stocks
US STOCKS posted their best day of the year yesterday after a drop in applications for unemployment insurance boosted confidence in the economy and Disney’s results overshot expectations.
The rally came ahead of the widely-followed payrolls report for January due today, which some are expecting to be affected by the extreme weather that hit much of the US. December’s number was a much-lower-than-expected 74,000 and an upward revision wouldn’t be a surprise.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 20,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 331,000. While the data has no direct bearing on January’s employment report it bodes well for the jobs market and the overall recovery.
Meanwhile, Walt Disney was the most recent bellwether to beat expectations as its profit topped estimates, sending its shares up 5.3 per cent to $75.56.
Disney led gains on both the Dow industrials and S&P 500.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 188.3 points or 1.22 per cent, to 15,628.53, the S&P 500 gained 21.79 points or 1.24 per cent, to 1,773.43 and the Nasdaq Composite added 45.57 points or 1.14 per cent, to 4,057.122.
It was the largest daily percentage gain for the S&P 500 and Dow since mid-December. However, the S&P was on track for its fourth consecutive negative week, a streak not seen since July-August of 2011.
About 6.9bn shares traded on U.S. exchanges, below the 7.9bn average of the past five sessions, according to data from BATS Global Markets.