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Roundup: U.S. stocks rebound on upbeat data

Xinhua, May 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday after a two-day sell-off, as U.S. jobless claims data came out positive.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 82.08 points, or 0.46 percent, to 17,924.06. The S&P 500 gained 7.85 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,088.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 25.90 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4,945.54.

In the week ending May 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 265,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 262,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 279,500, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 283,750. This is the lowest level for this average since May 6, 2000 when it was 279, 250.

Analysts believed that the jobless claims data could be a sign that Friday's jobs report for April will come in upbeat.

Meanwhile, investors were still digesting Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments. She said Wednesday that risks to financial stability were moderated at this point.

But Yellen stressed low interest rates can certainly create risks for financial stability, saying there are potential dangers, such as high equity market valuations, compressed spreads on high- yield debt, and deterioration in underwriting standards for leveraged loans.

Oil prices tumbled on Thursday, with both the U.S. oil and Brent crude dropping more than 3 percent, as concerns persisted that demand is not strong enough to ease the supply glut.

Dragged by plunging oil prices, energy sector, the sole decliner among the S&P 500's ten sectors, fell more than 1 percent.

In corporate news, shares of Alibaba soared 7.50 percent to 86. 00 dollars apiece on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. The Chinese e-commerce giant announced its revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 was 2,811 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 45 percent year on year.

Shares of Tesla rose 2.76 percent to 236.80 dollars apiece Thursday, as the company posted better-than-expected first-quarter results after Wednesday's closing bell.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, ticked down 0.13 percent to end at 15.13 on Thursday.

In other markets, oil prices plummeted Thursday as concerns persisted that demand is not strong enough to ease the supply glut.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery moved down 1.99 dollars to settle at 58.94 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery, the global benchmark, lost 2.23 dollars to close at 65.54 dollars a barrel.

The U.S. dollar increased against most major currencies as economic data from the country came out positive.

In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.1266 dollars from 1.1356 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 119.77 Japanese yen, higher than 119.35 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell as positive data and a stronger U.S. dollar put pressure on the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for June delivery fell 8.1 dollars, or 0.68 percent, to settle at 1,182.20 dollars per ounce. Endite