FX.co ★ US Stock Markets Closed Positive on Thursday: Dow Jones Rises, Nasdaq Breaks Record

At the close of trading on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose against the background of a report from the US Department of Labor, stating that the number of applications for unemployment benefits significantly decreased.

The Dow Jones index increased by 0.3% to 2,9969.52 points. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 12,377.18 points, reporting another record. The S&P 500 was trading in the positive zone for most of the session, but before closing, it began to decline, bidding farewell to the upward trend that had emerged in recent days. As a result, it dropped 0.1% to 3666.72 points.

Recall that the previous month was rich in records of US stock indexes due to the hope of investors that in 2021 the economy will recover against the background of the appearance of vaccines. However, the uncontrolled growth of COVID-19 infections around the world slightly cooled the ardor of investors, which affected the rate of market growth during the first week of December.

It also became known that the pharmaceutical company Pfizer has revised the plan for the supply of a vaccine against coronavirus infection by the end of this year due to problems in the transportation chain. Now the farm giant is committed to delivering only half of the previously planned volume.

However, all the attention of traders in recent days has been focused not even on the news about the vaccine, but on the discussion of a new package of measures to stimulate the economy. The day before, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell held talks on congressional efforts to conclude an agreement on state support measures. McConnell said that the parties can reach a compromise before the end of this year. Recall that in the middle of this week, a group of congressmen from both parties proposed a new package of incentives worth more than $900 billion.

The report of the US Department of Labor gave another portion of optimism to investor sentiment. According to the information provided, the number of initial applications for unemployment benefits in America for the last week of November fell by 75,000 to 712,000, while analysts predicted a decline to 775,000. Thus, the report shows a moderate recovery in one of the main and most important American markets.

Meanwhile, activity in the US services sector in November showed growth for the sixth month in a row. Such data undoubtedly indicate the stability of activity, which is not afraid of the second global wave of coronavirus and hard lockdowns.

As for the state of affairs in the EU, it is expected that by the end of December, European regulators will decide on the approval of experimental COVID-19 vaccines. Experts believe that Europe will lag behind the United States in terms of the rate of distribution of the vaccines since it will need more time to approve the vaccination. In addition, Europe is more segmented and may not agree on a single standard.

However, let's return to the indicators of the American stock markets and see how the multiple news and events of Thursday affected them.

The shares of Boeing Co. at the close of Thursday's session increased by 5.96% to $237.20 per share. Analysts attribute this to the order of the Irish Corporation Ryanair Holdings Plc. The company added an additional 75 Boeing 737 MAX Airliners to its application, thereby increasing the order to 210 aircraft.

Xpo Logistics Inc. increased by 5.8%. In the near future, the Corporation plans to split into two segregated companies. XPO Logistics is going to allocate a large-scale business in the field of contract logistics, while not losing cargo and freight operations in a single structure.

PVH Corp. grew by 5.8%, despite the fact that the net profit of the owner of popular brands in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2020 fell threefold, and revenues decreased by 18%. The company said it expected to continue to see revenue fall in the current quarter.

Snowflake Inc. shares gained 16.1%. The active growth of shares was not prevented even by the fall of the corporation's net loss in the 3rd quarter by almost half.

Palantir Technologies Inc.'s stock price jumped 6.75% after an alarming record drop of 12.3% at the close of the previous session.

Chevron Corp. fell in price by 0.08%. The US oil giant has significantly cut its capital investment plan for next year and cut its spending budget for the period up to and including 2025.

Tesla shares gained 4.32% to $ 593.38 amid recommendations from Goldman Sachs to buy shares in the electric vehicle manufacturer.

Cinema stocks tumble on news of movie giant Warner Bros. for next year. It became known that the company plans to dub the film premieres with shows on the cable channel HBO amid low demand for movie tickets. Thus, shares of AMC Theaters fell 16%, while shares of the Cinemark network fell 22%.

Meanwhile, most of the major stock indices in the Asia-Pacific region were up, with the exception of China's Shanghai Composite, which fell 0.2%.