Stocks rose from early-session lows on Thursday as banks, healthcare and energy stocks rebounded on hopes of more federal relief coming. Despite more grim economic data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to snapped back from a three-day losing streak, carrying the S&P 500 and Nasdaq with it.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported a total of 2.981 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance during the week ending May 9. That number was above economic consensus that had predicted the number to be between 2.5-2.7 million. The addition set of claims brought the United States' unemployment total to nearly 36.5 million in two months.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) +1.15% or +32.50 points to 2,852.50
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +1.62% or +377.37 points to 23,625.34
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.91% or +80.56 points to 8,943.72
In Major Stock News, big banks--Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)--soared during later market trading as investors shook off the jobs data fears. Energy stocks--Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Halliburton (NYSE: HAL)--also increased as analysts determine that the worst for oil demand may be over. 3M (NYSE: MMM) announced that April sales declined 11% year-to-year, with its healthcare segment the only one increasing, showing signs of consumer sentiment lowering.
In Stock Sector News, almost every sector reversed their negative course on Thursday, leaving on Consumer Staples -0.31% behind. The positive performance gains were as follows: Financials +2.64%, Consumer Discretionary +1.31%, Information Technology +1.26%, Materials +1.23%, Health Care +1.07%, Communication Services +1.00%, Industrials +0.97%, Utilities +0.95%, Energy +0.94% and Real Estate +0.09%.
In Commodity and Currency News, June futures for West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) rose over 9% to price at over $27 per barrel as demand slump shows signs of uptake. Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) also increased almost 8% to price above $31 per barrel. Gold (NYSE: GLD) futures also gained 0.86% on Thursday to price at about $1,731 per ounce. Finally, the U.S Dollar (NYSE: UUP) also climbed 0.22%.
As the Stock Market enters its final day of trading this week, investors will be focused on new economic data for retail sales, industrial production and consumer sentiment as well as earnings for JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) and VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC).