At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 141.59 points, or 0.41%, to 34,465. The S&P 500 index added 489 points, or 0.12%, at 4,201. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.72 points, or 0.01%, to 13,736.
Total 6 out of 11 S&P 500 sectors closed up, with industrials (up 1.37%), financials (up 1.19%), and materials (up 0.74%) sectors being notable gainers, while consumer staples (down 0.59%), utilities (down 0.66%), and information technology (down 0.53%) issues were notable losers.
ECONOMIC NEWS: US First-Time Claims For Unemployment Benefits Continue To Slide- US initial jobless claims slid to 406,000 in the week ended May 22nd, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 444,000, a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed. Jobless claims decreased for the fourth consecutive week, once again falling to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020. The report showed the less volatile four-week moving average also fell to its lowest level in over a year, dropping to 458,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 504,750. Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment benefits, also slumped by 96,000 to 3.642 million in the week ended May 15th.
US Pending Home Sales Tumble Sharply In April- US pending home sales index plunged by 4.4% to 106.2 in April after surging up by 1.7% to a downwardly revised 111.1 in March, a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed. With the unexpected pullback, the pending home sales index slumped to its lowest level since hitting 101.4 in May of 2020. A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
US GDP Spikes 6.4% In Q1- US real gross domestic product spiked by 6.4% in the first quarter, unchanged from the estimate provided last month, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. Upward revisions to consumer spending and non-residential fixed investment were offset by downward revisions to exports and private inventory investment, the Commerce Department said. The strong GDP growth in the first three months of 2021 still reflects a notable acceleration from the 4.3% jump seen in the last three months of 2020.
US Durable Goods Orders Plunged 1.3% In April- US durable goods orders tumbled by 1.3% in April after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.3% in March, reflecting a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. The unexpected decrease in durable goods orders came as volatile orders for transportation equipment plunged by 6.7% in April after slumping 3.1% in March. Orders for motor vehicles and parts led the way lower, plummeting by 6.2% due to the impact of semiconductor shortages. Excluding the steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, however, durable goods orders shot up by 1% in April after spiking by 3.2% in March.
Among Indian ADR, Tata Motors added 1.15% to $22.18, INFOSYS added 0.57% to $19.37, ICICI Bank added 1.11% to $18.17, Wipro added 1.15% to $7.92, and HDFC Bank added 2.26% to $75.63. Dr Reddys Labs was up 0.35% to $72.22, Vedanta added 0.27% to $14.89, and WNS Holdings added 1.55% to $75.23.
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