With little news out of Europe, investors were able to focus on the U.S. economy on Thursday, and clearly liked what they saw: Stocks rose on upbeat reports on initial jobless claims and consumer confidence, which overshadowed a disappointing revision on U.S. economic growth in the third quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,169.65, up 61.91 points or 0.5 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1254.00, up 10.28 points or 0.8 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 11,876.48, up 122.95 points or 1.1 per cent.
Before trading began, the Labor Department reported that jobless claims for the period ended last week fell to 364,000 – down 4,000, to the lowest reading since April 2008, and providing some encouragement on the U.S. employment situation.
Meanwhile, the University of Michigan revised its consumer confidence index up to 69.9 in December, up from an earlier reading of 67.7. A downward revision of U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, to 1.8 per cent from 2 per cent previously, didn't appear to fluster anyone.
Financials were among the biggest winners. Among U.S. names, Bank of America Corp. rose 4.6 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & CO. rose 3.5 per cent. In Canada, Manulife Financial Corp. rose 3.2 per cent and Royal Bank of Canada rose 3.9 per cent.
Oracle Corp. fell 0.3 per cent, a day after the technology company was slammed over disappointing quarterly earnings and outlook.
Commodity producers were generally strong, helped by crude oil's flirtation with $100 (U.S.) a barrel. Oil closed in New York at $99.53, up 86 cents. Suncor Energy Inc. rose 2.9 per cent. Among other commodity producers, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 5.2 per cent and Teck Resources Ltd. rose 2.4 per cent.