The US markets closed higher on Thursday, as a sharp rebound by oil futures helped the main indexes rebound from a Wednesday rout that had pushed them below their August lows. On the economy front, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits in mid-January reached seven-month highs, perhaps a sign that the rate of layoffs in the US has risen slightly from record lows. Initial jobless claims climbed a seasonally adjusted 10,000 to 293,000 in the seven days stretching from January 10 to January 16. That’s the highest level since last July. Initial claims are still at very low levels - any number below 300,000 is viewed as evidence of a strong labor market. And other gauges such as the more valuable US monthly employment report show that hiring is still going strong. Still, initial claims have risen more than 14% after touching a post-recession low of 256,000 in early October. Some 2.21 million people collected weekly unemployment checks in the seven days ended January 9. These so-called continuing claims were 56,000 lower compared to the prior week.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index was in negative territory in January for the fifth month in a row. The index rose to negative 3.5 from negative 10.2, and the index of new orders rose 10 points to negative 1.4.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115.94 points or 0.74 percent to 15,882.68, the Nasdaq was up 0.37 points or 0.01 percent to 4,472.06 while the S&P 500 gained 9.66 points or 0.52 percent to 1,868.99.
The Indian ADRs closed mixed; Infosys was up 0.45%, ICICI Bank was up 0.21% and Wipro was up by 0.14%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.67% and HDFC Bank was down 0.28%.
MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.
To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.
MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through: