US close: Stocks positive as initial jobless claims fall

Wall Street stocks closed in the green on Thursday, as investors digested a number of key data points.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.37% at 35,443.82, as the S&P 500 added 0.28% to 4,536.95 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.14% at 15,331.18.

The Dow closed 131.29 points higher on Thursday, reversing losses recorded in the prior session as market participants digested a number of major data points.

Thursday's primary focus was weekly jobless claims numbers, which revealed the number of Americans filing for unemployment claims continued to drop at the end of August.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, initial jobless claims fell by 14,000 during the week ended 28 August to reach 340,000.

Secondary unemployment claims retreated by 160,000 to approximately 2.75m.

Traders thumbed over the report for any potential hints as to how tomorrow's big August jobs report, which could show how fast the Federal Reserve will remove easy monetary policy, might play out.

Also on the macro front, America's shortfall in trade with the rest of the world shrank last month as exports picked up.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign deficit narrowed by 4.3% month-on-month to reach -$70.1bn, with exports up 1.3% on the month at $212.8bn and imports down 0.2% at $282.9bn.

Elsewhere, unit labour costs in the US grew a bit more quickly than anticipated during the second quarter, revised data showed.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, unit labour costs increased at a quarter-on-quarter pace of 1.3% over the three months to June.

That was higher than the preliminary estimate of 1.0%.

Lastly, US factory orders grew 0.4% month-on-month in July, slightly beating expectations for a print of 0.3% but still well short of the previous month's 1.5% increase.

Also in focus, OPEC+ agreed to stick to its initial plan of enhancing its oil supply by 400,000 barrels per day per month, gradually eliminating its unprecedented supply reductions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, it did raise its demand forecast for 2022 amid pressure from the Biden administration to ramp up production.

In the corporate space, chipmaker Broadcom closed 0.26% weaker, ahead of its earnings report due after the close of trading.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $51.78 2.96%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $97.71 2.09%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $211.78 1.84%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $423.71 1.52%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $327.75 1.27%
Boeing Co. (BA) $220.83 1.24%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $77.12 1.23%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $225.96 1.17%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $59.53 0.83%
3M Co. (MMM) $194.89 0.75%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Visa Inc. (V) $224.18 -2.58%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $264.15 -1.55%
American Express Co. (AXP) $162.05 -1.45%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $181.86 -0.88%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $163.67 -0.54%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $301.15 -0.23%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $143.95 0.08%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $53.73 0.11%

S&P 500 - Risers

Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $114.04 12.06%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $17.35 6.70%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $26.58 5.98%
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $69.39 5.81%
Baxter International Inc. (BAX) $81.06 4.46%
Apache Corp. (APA) $19.85 4.20%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $11.72 4.09%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $20.46 3.91%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $29.33 3.82%
Baker Hughes Company Class A (BKR) $23.35 3.78%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $287.47 -5.20%
Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $43.57 -4.60%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $25.68 -2.91%
Visa Inc. (V) $224.18 -2.58%
Global Payments Inc. (GPN) $158.59 -2.41%
Mastercard Incorporated (MA) $341.28 -2.37%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $70.90 -2.37%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $578.82 -2.32%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $115.83 -2.12%
Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) $126.86 -1.88%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $79.33 3.48%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $51.78 2.96%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $92.59 2.89%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $45.57 2.82%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $89.50 2.65%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $861.28 2.27%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $29.22 2.17%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $29.09 2.14%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $182.93 2.12%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,931.33 1.84%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $287.47 -5.20%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $578.82 -2.32%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $115.83 -2.12%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $94.91 -2.05%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $375.28 -1.77%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $162.37 -1.70%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $143.77 -1.64%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $381.21 -1.61%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $31.24 -1.42%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $2,865.74 -1.33%