US markets end higher amid signs of economic recovery

26 Mar 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Thursday on optimism about the US economy reopening after President Joe Biden announced a new goal of administering 200 million coronavirus vaccinations within his first 100 days in office. The new goal is double the 100 million shots in 100 days that Biden initially pledged and was reached before his 60th day in office. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 133 million Covid vaccines have been administered, with more than 14 percent of the population fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said accelerated coronavirus vaccine distribution combined with support from Congress will enable the US to reopen the economy sooner than might have been expected. Powell also said the Fed plans to gradually roll back its asset purchases as the economy makes substantial progress towards the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability.

On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since the early days of the pandemic. The report said initial jobless claims slid to 684,000 in the week ended March 20th, a decrease of 97,000 from the previous week's revised level of 781,000. Street had expected jobless claims to decline to 730,000 from the 770,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the much bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 282,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed economic activity in the US unexpectedly grew faster than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2020. The report showed real gross domestic product surged up by 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previously reported 4.1 percent jump. Street had expected the pace of GDP growth to be unrevised.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 199.42 points or 0.62 percent to 32,619.48, Nasdaq rose 15.79 points or 0.12 percent to 12,977.68 and S&P 500 was up by 20.38 points or 0.52 percent to 3,909.52.

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