Currency traders watch computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center, and the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 27, 2021. Asian shares fell Thursday, as investors watched for signs of inflation and awaited U.S. economic data expected later in the day.
A currency trader walks by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 27, 2021. Asian shares fell Thursday, as investors watched for signs of inflation and awaited U.S. economic data expected later in the day.
Currency traders watch computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 27, 2021. Asian shares fell Thursday, as investors watched for signs of inflation and awaited U.S. economic data expected later in the day.
Currency traders watch computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 27, 2021. Asian shares fell Thursday, as investors watched for signs of inflation and awaited U.S. economic data expected later in the day.
FILE – The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. Stocks are off to a mostly higher start on Wall Street, Thursday, May 27, 2021, with the exception of the technology sector, which gave back some of its recent gains.
Stocks were mostly higher on Wall Street Thursday as investors received more signals that the economy is continuing to heal from the pandemic.
Economic reports showed that unemployment is falling and the U.S. economy grew at a solid rate during the first quarter.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.2% as of 11:35 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 98 points, or 0.3% to 34,425 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.1%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks rose 0.8% in yet another signal that investors were confident about the economy going forward.
Industrial stocks led the gains. General Electric rose 5.8% and Boeing gained 3%. Utilities and health care companies lagged the broader market.
Investors were given a mostly positive set of economic reports on Thursday. The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits fell yet again to a pandemic low of 406,000. A growing number of states, all of them controlled by Republicans, have started cutting off unemployed workers from the $300-a-week jobless benefit that was part of the latest economic recovery package. That’s likely pushing additional Americans into the active labor force.
Meanwhile, there was disappointing data on sales of durable goods, that is expensive items that are expected to last three years or more, fell 1.3% according to the Commerce Department. That figure was expected to rise, according to economists.
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