Market Commentary and Intraday News

Stocks May Move Higher Despite Mixed Economic Data

239 days ago

(RTTNews) - After moving mostly lower over the past few sessions, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a notably higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 66 points.

The markets may benefit from bargain hunting following the weakness seen in recent sessions, with the S&P 500 likely to regain some ground after closing lower in each of the five previous sessions.

An upbeat report on the sluggish labor market may contribute to the early strength on Wall Street, with the report from the Labor Department showing a much bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended September 22nd.

The report showed that jobless claims fell to 359,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 385,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 376,000 from the 382,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the bigger than expected drop, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since coming in at 357,000 in the week ended July 21st.

On the other hand, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial drop in durable goods orders in the month of August, with the decrease largely due to a sharp decline in orders for transportation equipment.

The Commerce Department also released a separate report showing that the U.S. economy expanded by much less than previously estimated in the second quarter.

Traders may focus on the upbeat jobs data, as the reports from the Commerce Department are largely backward-looking and are seen as providing further support for the Federal Reserve's decision to enact a third round of quantitative easing.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2012 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved

View all of today's news »