US markets end higher on Thursday

31 Mar 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as concerns about turmoil in the banking sector continued to ease after sparking substantial volatility on Wall Street in recent weeks. A lack of major negative developments regarding the banking industry in recent days has led to confidence the situation has stabilized. Meanwhile, traders continued to look ahead to Friday's report on personal income and spending, which includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve and could have an impact on the outlook for interest rates. With the Fed signaling last week that it expects just one more interest rate increase this year, traders will look to the data for clues about the timing of the final rate hike. On the sectoral front, Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 1.8 percent.

On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 25th. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 198,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 191,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 196,000. A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew by slightly less than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2022. The report said real gross domestic product shot up by 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previously reported 2.7 percent jump. Street had expected the pace of growth to be unrevised.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 141.43 points or 0.43 percent to 32,859.03, Nasdaq added 87.24 points or 0.73 percent to 12,013.47 and S&P 500 was up by 23.02 points or 0.57 percent to 4,050.83.

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