US markets end mostly higher on Thursday

01 Feb 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 notching its best January in over three decades, after the Federal Reserve signaled that rate increases are on pause and that its next policy move will depend on economic data. For the month, the S&P 500 climbed 7.9% for its best January since 1987, while the Dow rose 7.2%, its best January since 1989. The Nasdaq had its best January since 2001 on the back of a 9.7% monthly gain. Meanwhile, traders were watching developments between the US and China as officials there attempted to forge the framework toward a resolution of tariff disputes in the final day of this round of negotiations. President Donald Trump said that no final deal would be made until my friend President Xi, and I meet in the near future to discuss and agree on some of the long standing and more difficult points.

On the economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a significant rebound in initial jobless claims in the week ended January 26. The report said initial jobless claims surged up to 253,000, an increase of 53,000 from the previous week's revised level of 200,000. Street had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000. With the much bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 254,000 in September of 2017. The slightly upwardly revised reading on jobless claims in the previous week was still the lowest since a matching figure in October of 1973. Meanwhile, a separate report from the Commerce Department showed new home sales rebounded by much more than anticipated in November. The report released showed new home sales soared by 16.9 percent to an annual rate of 657,000 in November after plunging by 8.3 percent to a revised rate of 562,000 in October. Street had expected new home sales to rise to a rate of 560,000 from the 544,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Nasdaq gained 98.66 points or 1.37 percent to 7281.74 and S&P 500 was up by 23.05 points or 0.86 percent to 2704.10, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 15.19 points or 0.06 percent to 24999.67.

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