US markets closed higher; Dow ends above 25,000 for the first time

05 Jan 2018 Evaluate

The US markets closed higher on Thursday, at an all-time high, while the Dow topped the 25,000 milestone for the first time. The S&P closed at a record in each of the first three trading days of the New Year, the first time it has done so since 1964. The Nasdaq did the same, for the first time since 1999. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the US tax legislation approved last year is likely to boost growth and investment and is already pushing up equity prices, but should not force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates any faster than expected. Bullard added that his base case was for only a modest increase in capital spending, and a possible shift in the economy’s long-term potential growth by a few tenths of a percentage point -- not a dramatic change for the near term but important over the long run.

On the economy front, private-sector hiring was stronger than expected in December. Employers added 250,000 jobs, more than the 188,000 jobs forecasted. November’s tally was cut by 5,000, however. Almost all of the December gain was in the service-providing sector, which accounted for 222,000 of the jobs. Within services, the trade/transportation/utilities category made up 45,000 of those jobs, a sign of the continued dominance of e-commerce.

Separately, initial jobless claims, a tool to measure layoffs, rose 3,000 to 250,000 in the seven days ended December 30. Claims in the prior week were revised to a gain of 2,000 to 247,000, from the original estimate that they were flat at 245,000. The more stable monthly average of claims rose slightly, adding 3,500 to 241,750. The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims, fell 37,000 to 1.91 million. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. The latest Purchasing Managers Index on the services sector came in at 53.7, compared with the prior reading of 54.5.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 152.45 points or 0.61 percent to 25,075.13 and the Nasdaq gained 12.384 points or 0.18 percent to 7,077.92, and the S&P 500 edged higher by 10.93 points or 0.40 percent to 2,723.99.

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