While you were sleeping .. US stocks closed mostly higher overnight, as investors cheered a sharp drop in weekly unemployment claims, a welcome development ahead of tonight’s official monthly jobs report. Jobless claims fell more than expected, dipping by 26,000 to a three-month low of 323,000, beating forecasts for a figure of 335,000. At the close the Dow was up 0.52%, the S&P 500 added 0.3%, while the Nasdaq bucked the trend and ended down 0.06%. European stocks also closed mainly higher, with investors looking beyond the Ukraine crisis to better US jobs data and the likelihood of stronger growth for the Eurozone this year. The ECB raised its forecast for growth in 2014 to 1.2%, while trimming the inflation outlook to 1%. Gains were varied though, with London’s FTSE 100 up 0.19%, while Paris’s CAC put in a stronger performance, up 0.59%, but Frankfurt’s DAX was flat.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 23:06:25 +0000
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