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Mid-Day Recap: Stocks Higher After Jobless Claims Data
The day’s data has been mixed but sentiment continues to run high on Wall Street after third-quarter earnings posted after the bell yesterday beat expectations. This morning, jobless claims moderated more than forecasts and wholesale trade data showed businesses were continuing to cut back on inventories at record rates.rnrnAs of 1:15, the NASDAQ leads the way with a 1.00% advance to 2,131. The S&P 500 is close behind with a 0.90% gain to 1,067, while the Dow is up 0.85% to 9,807.
Wholesale Inventories Cut for 12th Straight Month
Businesses cut back on inventories for a record 12th consecutive month in August. The 1.3% reduction follows a 1.4% drop in July, and together they pushed the annual drop to 14.7%.rnrnThe drop was worse than Wall Street forecasts of a 1% cut, but the other half of the report was more positive as sales jumped for the fifth straight month. The 1.0% gain is the biggest gain since June 2008, and it follows an upwardly revised but still modest 0.1% gain in July. Since August 2008, sales are down 17.7%. rnrnEquity markets fell in minutes following the report but quickly
Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since January
Well that’s not bad start for the fourth quarter. Weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell more than forecasts in the week ending October 3. Indeed, the 521,000 new claims is the lowest weekly figure since early January.rnrnEconomists had been expecting 540k initial claims after the prior week’s 554k figure (revised from 551k). Before last week’s rise, claims had been moderating for three consecutive weeks.rnrnThe 33k drop in new claims drove the 4-week average down by 9k to 540k, the lowest since mid-January.
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