Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, recovering from their worst day of 2017, after a strong bout of U.S. economic data lifted sentiment.
All three U.S. indexes closed the session in positive, as investors turned attention to the U.S. economic growth story amid the release of stronger jobs and manufacturing data.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Tuesday that its Philly Fed manufacturing index rose to a seasonally adjusted 38.8, from 22.0 in the preceding month, well above analysts’ expectations of a rise to 19.5.
In a separate report on Tuesday, The Labor Department said the number of Americans who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended May 12, dropped by 4000 to 232,000.
Meanwhile, a CSPAN video of recently fired FBI chief James Comey testifying before Congress on May 3, resurfaced in late afternoon trade, causing a spike in both the dollar and U.S. equities.
Some traders misinterpreted the video, and believed Comey’s comments cleared the recent allegation against President Trump that he tried to shut down an FBI investigation into his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn.
In the video, Comey was asked whether the U.S. attorney general or senior officials at the Justice Department halted a specific FBI investigation that they opposed; Comey said “it’s not happened in my experience”.
Elsewhere, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester on Thursday repeated her call for further U.S. interest rate hikes in the wake of recent U.S. economic data, showing that the rate of employment and inflation is close to matching the Fed’s objectives.
Meanwhile, in corporate earnings news, Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) reported first quarter earnings, which beat on both the top and bottom lines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 20,663.02, up 0.27%. The S&P 500 closed 0.37% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6055.13, up 0.73%
The ‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow Jones Industrial Average gainers included; Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) up 3.2%, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) up 1.5%, while Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.5%.
Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) down 7.2%, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) down 0.8% and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) down 0.5%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.