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NEW YORK: US stock markets were up on Thursday as the major indices batted off concerns about Greece's debt woes and an unexpected rise in US jobless claims.
After spending much of the day in the red, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 21.46 points (0.19 percent) to 11,144.57 at the close.
The tech-rich Nasdaq composite was up 10.83 points (0.43 percent) at 2,515.69 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 1.02 (0.08 percent) to 1,211.67.
The International Monetary Fund announced it was dispatching a team of experts to Greece at the request of authorities to discuss a possible loan, moving the country a step closer to becoming the first eurozone nation to get an IMF bailout.
There was also bad news from the world's largest economy, which saw new claims for unemployment insurance benefits unexpectedly rise last week, largely due to Easter holiday-related factors.
Initial jobless claims totalled a seasonally-adjusted 484,000 in the week ending April 10, surprising most analysts who had forecast new claims would fall by 440,000.
The unexpected rise was not enough to erase strong equity gains made on Wednesday as investors saw the figures as affected by Easter.
News that US manufacturing output increased almost one percent in March provided a boost for industrial stocks.
On the Dow, components Caterpillar, United Technologies and General Electric all ended the day up.
The industrial production figures also gave economists the latest indication that a sustained economic recovery is underway.
"Soaring manufacturing output makes it clear the recovery is fully entrenched," said Joel Naroff, of Naroff Economic Advisors.
UPS also helped with the upward charge, gaining over five percent, after it gave a positive snapshot of its full earnings report later this month.
Shares in Google rose around one percent as traders awaited its first-quarter results. After the stock market closed the firm announced its net profit was up 37.4 percent to 1.96 billion dollars.
Bonds prices strengthened. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 3.830 percent from 3.859 percent on Thursday and that on the 30-year bond dropped to 4.714 percent from 4.730. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. - AFP/de
After spending much of the day in the red, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 21.46 points (0.19 percent) to 11,144.57 at the close.
The tech-rich Nasdaq composite was up 10.83 points (0.43 percent) at 2,515.69 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 1.02 (0.08 percent) to 1,211.67.
The International Monetary Fund announced it was dispatching a team of experts to Greece at the request of authorities to discuss a possible loan, moving the country a step closer to becoming the first eurozone nation to get an IMF bailout.
There was also bad news from the world's largest economy, which saw new claims for unemployment insurance benefits unexpectedly rise last week, largely due to Easter holiday-related factors.
Initial jobless claims totalled a seasonally-adjusted 484,000 in the week ending April 10, surprising most analysts who had forecast new claims would fall by 440,000.
The unexpected rise was not enough to erase strong equity gains made on Wednesday as investors saw the figures as affected by Easter.
News that US manufacturing output increased almost one percent in March provided a boost for industrial stocks.
On the Dow, components Caterpillar, United Technologies and General Electric all ended the day up.
The industrial production figures also gave economists the latest indication that a sustained economic recovery is underway.
"Soaring manufacturing output makes it clear the recovery is fully entrenched," said Joel Naroff, of Naroff Economic Advisors.
UPS also helped with the upward charge, gaining over five percent, after it gave a positive snapshot of its full earnings report later this month.
Shares in Google rose around one percent as traders awaited its first-quarter results. After the stock market closed the firm announced its net profit was up 37.4 percent to 1.96 billion dollars.
Bonds prices strengthened. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 3.830 percent from 3.859 percent on Thursday and that on the 30-year bond dropped to 4.714 percent from 4.730. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. - AFP/de
