US markets end mostly higher on Thursday

30 Jun 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling over 250 points. The higher close on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to the results of the Federal Reserve's annual bank stress test. The Fed said the results demonstrate that large banks are well positioned to weather a severe recession and continue to lend to households and businesses even during a severe recession. The Fed said all 23 banks tested remained above their minimum capital requirements during the hypothetical recession, despite total projected losses of $541 billion. Meanwhile, traders were also reacting to another batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data, which further eased recession worries but also renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 24th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 239,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised level of 265,000. Street had expected jobless claims to rise to 270,000 from the 264,000 originally reported for the previous week. The upwardly revised figure for the previous week reflected the most jobless claims since the week ended October 23, 2021. On the sectoral front, oil service stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.0 percent to its best closing level in nearly two months. The strength in the oil service sector came amid a continued increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for August delivery rising $0.30 to $69.86 a barrel.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 269.76 points or 0.8 percent to 34,122.42 and S&P 500 was up by 19.58 points or 0.45 percent to 4,396.44, while Nasdaq lost 0.42 points to 13,591.33. 


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