Vladimir Timofeev/Dreamstime
Stocks were mostly lower Thursday following a stronger-than-expected jobless claims report.
By midday, the
was down 76 points, or 0.2%. The
fell 0.1%, while the
was up 0.1%.
Initial jobless claims for the past week came in at 547,000, beating estimates of 603,000 and improving over last week’s result of 576,000. The result Thursday was a pandemic low, as reopening and fiscal stimulus helps fuel a recovery in the job market.
In Asia, the
stormed 2.4% higher after two days of losses. E-commerce group
surged 7% while medical equipment maker Olympus Corp. and Nippon Steel were among a broad-based group of Japanese companies to rise.
Other international markets advanced, with the
rising 0.5% in Hong Kong and the
adding 0.7%. The
edged 0.2% lower.
“The losing streak in the U.S. ended at just two sessions, with earnings optimism renewed and the small-caps leading the gains, while value narrowly beat growth,” said Ian Williams, a strategist at U.K. broker Peel Hunt.
The European Central Bank kept its key interest rate and asset buying program unchanged.
shares slumped in Zurich, as the bank said it is raising $1.9 billion to rebuild its balance sheet and said it would have to take another charge, in the second quarter, over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management.
(ticker: TDC) shares soared 29% after the company pre-announced better-than-expected results for its quarter ended in March. The company is now guiding for earnings of 46 cents a share at the midpoint of its range, higher than its previous outlook for 12 cents.
(EFX) shares rose 17% after the company reported a profit of $1.64 a share, beating estimates of $1.34 a share, on revenue of $1.2 billion, ahead of expectations for $1.1 billion.
(FSR) shares fell 7.3% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral.
(F) shares rose 2.5% after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform.
Shares of
(FSLR) rose 5.6% after Barclays upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Under Weight.
Write to Jacob Sonenshine at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com
