(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks rallied on Thursday as better than expected initial claims data and quarterly results from JPMorgan lifted optimism.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 95.61 points or 1.11% to finish at 8,711.82. The S&P 500 gained 8.06 points or 0.86% to end at 940.74. The Nasdaq Composite increased 22.13 points or 1.19% to 1,885.03.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell 12,000 to 631,00 in the week ending July 11. Economists had forecast jobless claims to drop to 553,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased by 3,500 to 628,500. Continuing claims for the week ending July 4 climbed 75,000 to a record 6.66 million.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:
) reported that its second-quarter profit jumped 36 percentto $2.72 billion, or 28 cents per share, up 36 percent from $2 billion, or 53 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue surged 39% to $25.62 billion from $18.4 billion. Shares of the company finished at $36.13, down 13 cents or 0.36%.
American Express Co. (NYSE:
) gained $1.06 or 3.89% to $28.28. On the other hand, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) slid 35 cents or 1.86% to $13.17.
Shares of technology bellwether IBM (NYSE:
) soared $3.42 or 3.19% to $110.64.Intel Corp.
