The US markets ended higher on Thursday as investors appeared to focus on hope that a detente between some of the biggest oil producers on the planet might be achieved to substantially curb oil production and stabilize battered prices. Oil and oil-related stocks were the main focus of the action, briefly superseding worries about the pandemic and woeful data that highlighted the economic pain exerted by measures to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus. President Donald Trump said that he has been in contact with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and he expected the Saudis and Russia to cut production by about 10 million barrels a day.
The strength that emerged on markets came even though the Labor Department released a report before the start of trading showing another spike in initial jobless claims in the week ended March 28. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims skyrocketed to 6.648 million, an increase of 3.341 million from the previous week's revised level of 3.307 million. With another record-breaking increase, the number of seasonally adjusted initial claims reached the highest level in the history of the seasonally adjusted series.
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 469.93 points or 2.24 percent to 21,413.44, Nasdaq gained 126.73 points or 1.72 percent to 7,487.31 and S&P 500 was up by 56.4 points or 2.28 percent to 2,526.9.
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