PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Thursday after better-than-expected weekly jobless claims figures, amplifying the rebound that began the day before in response to statements by the chairman of the Federal Reserve suggesting cautious monetary tightening.
The trend is also supported by the decline in oil prices in response to the latest information on the possibility of an agreement between the West and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear program.
About ten minutes after the start of trading, the Dow Jones index gained 209.64 points, or 0.62%, to 34,100.99, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.51% to 4,409.01 and the Nasdaq Composite takes 0.34% to 13,798.25.
The price of American light crude oil (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) fell 0.79% to 109.73 dollars after a peak at 116.57 and Brent dropped 0.5% to 112.36 after rising to 119, 84.
Jobless claims fell to 215,000 last week from 232,000 the week before, while Reuters consensus put them at 225,000.
This indicator reassures at least temporarily on the health of the American economy on the eve of the monthly report on employment, while investors fear the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia.
In addition, Citigroup raised its recommendation on US equities to “overweight”, judging that the recent drop in bond yields should favor a return to values sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Among the notable increases at the start of the session, Cisco Systems gained 1.44%, Apple 0.88% and Alphabet 0.81%.
In the news of corporate results, the distributor Best Buy wins 7.91% after raising its dividend by 26% and announcing a share buyback plan.
(Written by Marc Angrand, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)