# Wall Street pushes stocks, oil higher on promising data Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-08-05 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: U.S. stocks and oil prices rise on positive economic data Meta Description: Unemployment claims declined, while trade deficit widened. Get the latest updates on stock market and oil prices URL: https://financedigest.com/wall-street-pushes-stocks-oil-higher-on-promising-data-2html ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2021-08-05t165505z1lynxmpeh7417trtroptp4usa-results-s-p500-1736838047384-compressed.jpg) By Lawrence Delevingne BOSTON (Reuters) – U.S. stocks and oil prices rebounded on Thursday as unemployment claims declined and the trade deficit widened, [positive economic data in the face of rising COVID-19 cases](https://www.financedigest.com/italy-probes-meta-over-abuse-of-position-in-music-rights-case.html "Italy probes Meta over abuse of position in music rights case") and signals of declining Federal Reserve stimulus. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits declined further last week, while layoffs dropped in [July to their lowest level](https://www.financedigest.com/foreign-tourism-to-portugal-surpasses-pre-covid-levels-in-july.html "Foreign tourism to Portugal surpasses pre-COVID levels in July") in just more than 21 years. The U.S. trade deficit surged to a [record high in June as businesses boosted](https://www.financedigest.com/recruiter-hays-boosted-by-record-net-fees-but-cautious-on-outlook.html "Recruiter Hays boosted by record net fees, but cautious on outlook") imports to rebuild inventories. The Dow Jones [Industrial Average](https://www.financedigest.com/average-annual-uk-grocery-bill-highest-since-at-least-2008-industry-data.html "Average annual UK grocery bill highest since at least 2008 -industry data") rose 197.37 points, or 0.57%, to 34,990.04, the S&P 500 gained 18.01 points, or 0.41%, to 4,420.67 and the Nasdaq Composite added 99.08 points, or 0.67%, to 14,879.61. Yesterday’s record high reading on the Services PMI and today’s unemployment claims [data have reinvigorated confidence on the economic](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-slumps-on-economic-data-stronger-u-s-dollar.html "Oil slumps on economic data, stronger U.S. dollar") growth front,” Dave Donabedian, chief investment officer of $92 billion CIBC Private Wealth U.S., wrote in an email. A measure of U.S. services industry activity [jumped to a record](https://www.financedigest.com/nintendo-shares-jump-5-on-record-splatoon-launch.html "Nintendo shares jump 5% on record ‘Splatoon’ launch") high in July, boosted by the shift in spending to services from goods. [“Investors definitely are keeping an eye](https://www.financedigest.com/investors-eye-lower-wall-street-on-powell-nerves.html "Investors eye lower Wall Street on Powell nerves") on the Delta variant, but mostly view it as a speed bump for the economy rather than a showstopper. Goldman Sachs market strategists raised their year-end and 2022 price targets for the S&P 500 Index, citing “the combination of higher-than-expected S&P 500 earnings and lower-than-expected [interest rates.”](https://www.financedigest.com/interest-rate-and-recession-fears-knock-stocks-and-oil.html "Interest rate and recession fears knock stocks and oil") Still, [investors want to know how low rates](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-stocks-slip-as-rate-hike-worries-grip-investors.html "UK stocks slip as rate hike worries grip investors") will stay, and for how long. On Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida, a major architect of the Fed’s new strategy, said he felt conditions for raising interest rates could be met by the end of 2022, raising expectations that the [central bank](https://www.financedigest.com/stock-pickers-reckon-its-time-to-move-on-from-central-banks.html "Stock pickers reckon it’s time to move on from central banks") could scale back its bond-buying program soon. A [key indicator](https://www.financedigest.com/alanine-market-key-players-swot-analysis-key-indicators-and-forecast-to-2029.html "Alanine Market Key Players, SWOT Analysis, Key Indicators and Forecast to 2029") is due on Friday with the U.S. non-farm payrolls report, seen as key to the U.S. central [bank’s policy](https://www.financedigest.com/what-to-make-of-the-headlines-brexit-and-bank-of-england-policy-eba-bank-stress-tests.html "What to make of the headlines? Brexit and Bank of England policy, EBA bank stress tests") stance. The [dollar held gains](https://www.financedigest.com/stocks-mixed-dollar-gains-after-robust-inflation-jobs-data.html "Stocks mixed, dollar gains after robust inflation, jobs data") against a basket of currencies in morning trade the day after Clarida’s hawkish remarks, trading around 92.235 after hitting an eight-day high of 92.352. U.S. [Treasury yields](https://www.financedigest.com/wall-street-drops-treasury-yields-gyrate-on-fed-chairman-powells-remarks.html "Wall Street drops, Treasury yields gyrate on Fed Chairman Powell’s remarks") rose slightly, as traders waited for more detailed employment data due on Friday. Benchmark 10-year notes yielded around 1.2152%, up from 1.184% late on Wednesday. [Oil prices](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-prices-stable-heading-for-weekly-gain.html "Oil prices stable, heading for weekly gain") rose more than 1% on increasing Middle East tensions. U.S. crude recently rose 1.19% to $68.96 per barrel and Brent was at $71.16, up 1.11% on the day. Gold fell to [test the pivotal $1,800 support level](https://www.financedigest.com/fimes-acquirer-test-tool-first-to-achieve-emvco-level-3-qualification.html "FIME’s acquirer test tool first to achieve EMVCo Level 3 qualification"), with spot gold down 0.4% to $1,804.66 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.44% to $1,802.60 an ounce. (Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Will Dunham and David Gregorio) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---