US markets gain after weekly jobless claims fell

27 Dec 2013 Evaluate

The US markets gained on Thursday, extending their record run after government data showed a decline in weekly jobless claims. New jobless claims dropped by the most in more than a year in the latest week. The number of initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 42,000 in the week that ended December 21 to 338,000, below a consensus forecast of 345,000. This is the biggest drop since the week ended November 17, 2012. A four-week moving average is considered a more accurate barometer of employment trends because it smoothes out quirks in the weekly data. This week, the four-week average rose 4,250 to 348,000. This is the highest level since early November. Citing an improving labour market, the Federal Reserve earlier this month announced it would reduce its monthly $85 billion bond buying program by $10 billion starting in January.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 122.33 points or 0.75 percent to 16,479.88, the S&P 500 was up 8.70 points or 0.47 percent to 1,842.02, while Nasdaq gained 11.76 points or 0.28 percent to 4,167.18.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Thursday; HDFC Bank was down 0.60%, Tata Motors was down 0.30%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.14% and ICICI Bank was down 0.04%. On the other hand, Infosys was up by 0.34%.

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