Portfolio

Us close: jobless claims surprise sees stocks finish higher

By Josh White

Date: Friday 22 Oct 2021

Us close: jobless claims surprise sees stocks finish higher

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Thursday as weekly jobless claims surprised to the upside.


At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.02% at 35,603.08, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3% at 4,549.78. and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 0.62% at 15,215.70.

The Dow closed 6.26 points lower on Thursday, taking a small bite out of gains recorded in the previous session when the blue-chip index closed just shy of its all-time high.

Thursday's primary focus, as always, was this week's US jobless claims report from the Labor Department, which revealed that jobless claims had continued moving lower in the seven days ended 16 October.

According to the Department of Labor, initial weekly jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 290,000, defying forecasts for a rise to 300,000.

The four-week moving average for initial claims dropped by 15,250 to hit 319,750, its lowest level since 14 March 2020, while secondary claims slipped 122,000 to 2.481m.

Also drawing an amount of attention was news that the Food and Drug Administration had signed off on booster shots of both Johnson & Johnson and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines as it approved "mixing and matching" vaccines.

Elsewhere on the macro front, manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region deteriorated a little more than expected in October as the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's current manufacturing index declined to 23.8 from 30.7 in September, missing expectations for a reading of 25.0.

The index for new orders rose from 15.9 to 30.8, while the shipments index printed at 30.0 in October, little changed on 29.9 the month before.

The employment gauge, meanwhile, rose to 30.7 from 26.3.

Still on data, existing homes sales surged to an eight-month high in September, up 7% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.29m, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Conference Board's leading index, meanwhile, rose just 0.2% to 117.5 in September, pointing to somewhat slower growth and suggesting the economy was growing at "more moderate" trajectory than it did in the first half.

In the corporate space, AT&T was down 0.08% beat expectations for third-quarter earnings as the US communications conglomerate posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.87, up from $0.76 a year earlier and well ahead of analysts' average estimate of $0.78.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,190.30 -0.45%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,917.05 -0.22%
techMARK (TASX) 4,585.60 0.36%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Halma (HLMA) 2,956.00p 2.00%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,531.00p 1.99%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 279.90p 1.86%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,468.00p 1.78%
Croda International (CRDA) 9,022.00p 1.71%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 160.16p 1.69%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,078.00p 1.63%
Relx plc (REL) 2,256.00p 1.58%
3i Group (III) 1,317.00p 1.50%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,148.00p 1.37%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,656.50p -4.84%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,928.40p -3.72%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 650.80p -3.07%
Evraz (EVR) 623.00p -2.81%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,759.00p -2.66%
Glencore (GLEN) 368.55p -2.49%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,424.50p -2.24%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,431.50p -2.15%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 589.60p -2.12%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 152.25p -1.96%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Renishaw (RSW) 5,185.00p 11.10%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 190.00p 4.74%
Darktrace (DARK) 950.00p 4.22%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 165.30p 3.64%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 106.60p 3.50%
Draper Esprit (GROW) 993.00p 3.44%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 623.50p 3.40%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,764.50p 3.29%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,451.00p 3.19%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 64.34p 3.11%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 513.00p -7.31%
Trainline (TRN) 322.20p -4.56%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 303.60p -4.15%
Redrow (RDW) 636.00p -4.13%
Bellway (BWY) 3,213.00p -3.65%
Energean (ENOG) 877.00p -3.30%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 210.00p -3.23%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 337.60p -3.16%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 555.00p -3.14%
National Express Group (NEX) 217.00p -2.95%

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