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Companies’ earnings from the United States were able to boost confidence in global financial markets, where most U.S. companies continue to announce higher than expected earnings for the first quarter of 2011, where the likes of Apple Inc, American Express Co, Travelers Cos Inc, McDonald’s Corp, and Morgan Stanley all reported better than expected earnings.
The optimism from the earnings season was somewhat limited since data from the United States came out worse than expected, where jobless claims for the week ending April 16, declined to 403,000 from 416,000 in the prior week, where despite the drop in jobless claims, which signals the recent improvement in labor market conditions, yet they remain above 400K, and that means that the recovery will be gradual for the labor market.
Moreover, the Philadelphia Fed index was released for the month of April, where the Philly Fed index eased to 18.5 from 43.4 and well below median estimates of 36.9, and although the index is still showing expansion in manufacturing activities, yet it suggests activities are slowing down. The leading indicators, which are considered as a gauge for future economic activities in the next three to six months, rose in March by 0.4%, compared with the prior rise of 1.0% and slightly above expectations of 0.3%.
Stocks in the United States were slightly higher on Thursday during the early hours and ahead of tomorrow’s Good Friday holiday, as markets will be closed on Friday, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by nearly 0.10% to trade around 12,460, while the S&P 500 index was also up by 0.30% to trade around 1335. European shares were mixed, where FTSE 100 was down by 0.15%, and the DAX was up by nearly 0.50%.
The U.S. dollar declined against most major currencies, where investors were more encouraged to invest in higher yielding assets, while gold prices continued to rise amid the dollar’s weakness to reach a new all-time record high at $1509.14 an ounce, while crude oil prices were little changed to trade around $111.60s a barrel.
Originally posted here
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