Traders talk at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, April 15, 2021. U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday, fueled by a slew of upbeat economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 305.10 points, or 0.90 percent, to 34,035.99, marking the first time the 30-stock gauge has crossed the 34,000 threshold. (Courtney Crow/NYSE/handout via Xinhua)
NEW YORK, April 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday, fueled by a slew of upbeat economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 305.10 points, or 0.90 percent, to 34,035.99, marking the first time the 30-stock gauge has crossed the 34,000 threshold. The S&P 500 added 45.76 points, or 1.11 percent, to 4,170.42, also a fresh record close. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 180.92 points, or 1.31 percent, to 14,038.76.
Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 ended in green, with real estate and technology up 1.95 percent and 1.79 percent, respectively, leading the gainers. Energy lost 0.88 percent, the worst-performing group.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower with nine of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.
On the data front, U.S. retail sales surged 9.8 percent in March, the Department of Commerce reported on Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 6.1-percent increase.
Meanwhile, a separate report showed the number of Americans filing first-time jobless claims fell to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, registered 576,000 in the week ending April 10, a decrease of 193,000 from the prior week's revised level, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast new claims would total 710,000 for last week. Enditem
