The US markets settled notably higher with gains around a percent on Thursday following the signing of a trade truce between the US and China on Wednesday and Senate approval of a new trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada on Thursday. A batch of largely upbeat US economic data also contributed to the buying interest, with a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended January 11. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 204,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 214,000. The drop came as a surprise to street, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 216,000.
The Commerce Department also released a report showing US retail sales rose in line with street estimates in the month of December, with a sharp pullback in auto sales more than offset by strength in other areas. The report said retail sales climbed by 0.3 percent in December, matching the upwardly revised increase in November. Street had expected retail sales to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month. Excluding auto sales, retail sales increased by 0.7 percent in December after coming in unchanged in November. Ex-auto sales had been expected to climb by 0.5 percent. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve also released a report showing a substantial acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of January. Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing a slight pullback in homebuilder confidence in January, although confidence remains at an elevated level. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index edged down to 75 in January after jumping to 76 in December.
Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 267.42 points or 0.92 percent to 29297.64, Nasdaq added 98.44 points or 1.06 percent to 9357.13 and S&P 500 was up by 27.52 points or 0.84 percent to 3316.81.
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