US Stocks Gain On Improving Labor Data

Wall Street stocks climbed early Thursday, with major indices in record territory following data showing a drop in weekly unemployment claims

New York, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Sep, 2021 ) :Wall Street stocks climbed early Thursday, with major indices in record territory following data showing a drop in weekly unemployment claims.

The Labor Department reported a seasonally adjusted 340,000 new filings for aid in the week ended August 28, 14,000 less than the previous week's upwardly revised level and the lowest since Covid-19 caused millions of layoffs in March 2020.

The report comes ahead of Friday's much-anticipated August jobs data. Analysts will scrutinize that release for signs of when the Federal Reserve might begin scaling back its massive stimulus program, as its chief Jerome Powell said could happen by the year's end.

"The feeling is that another strong report will green light an announcement" on tapering asset purchases at the Fed's September meeting, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"A soft report could keep a red light on any tapering announcement," he added.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent at 35,427.64.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 4,542.47, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also advanced 0.4 percent to 15,375.14.

Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are above their all-time closing highs.