US markets end higher on Thursday

27 Sep 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Thursday. The rally on markets partly reflected strength in the tech sector, with chipmaker Micron (MU) helping lead the way higher. Shares of Micron spiked by 14.7 percent after the company reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and provided strong fiscal first quarter revenue guidance. Markets also benefited from the release of upbeat U.S. economic data, with a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended September 21st. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 222,000. The dip surprised participants, who had expected jobless claims to rise to 225,000 from the 219,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 216,000 in the week ended May 18th. The Commerce Department also released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in the month of August. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders came in flat in August after soaring by 9.9 percent in July. Street had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 2.6 percent. Excluding a decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent. on the sectoral front, Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 5.3 percent to its best closing level in over three months. Southwest Airlines (LUV) helped lead the sector higher, surging by 5.4 percent after raising its third quarter revenue guidance and announcing a new share repurchase program.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260.36 points or 0.62 percent to 42,175.11, Nasdaq gained 108.09 points or 0.6 percent to 18,190.29 and S&P 500 was up by 23.11 points or 0.4 percent to 5,745.37.

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