The US stock market opened higher on Thursday, with all the three main indices gaining. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 100 points or 0.3% at 43,538, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to over 19,000.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.4% to 5,940. Six of the eleven sectoral indices were trading in green, led by information technology and energy. Telecom and communication services were the major drags.
Among notable stocks, Google-parent Alphabet Inc. tanked nearly 5% amid continued concerns after the US Department of Justice suggested the sale of Google Chrome in an antitrust action. Universal Healthcare Service Inc. dropped 3% while McDonald's Corp. sunk 2%.
Gainers include Amentum Holdings LLC., Super Micro Computer Inc. and Salesforce Inc.
As the Wall Street opened, investors also assessed the latest US labour market report, which showed a decline in initial jobless claims. The data showed initial weekly applications for unemployment insurance came in at 213,000 for the week ended Nov. 16, down from last week’s revised 219,000 claims. The estimate shared by news agency Bloomberg was of 220,000 claims.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond declined two basis points to 4.39%.
The US dollar was steady against major currencies. The Bloomberg Dollar Index was little changed at 106.68. The euro and British pound fell while the Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 154.30 per dollar.
Escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war gave oil and gold prices a boost. Spot gold prices jumped 0.7% to $2,668.63 an ounce. International benchmark Brent oil rose 0.8% to near $73 per barrel-mark.
Bitcoin topped $98,000 for the first time on growing optimism over President-elect Donald Trump’s support for cryptocurrency. During the campaign trail, Trump had vowed to make the US the "crypto capital of the world".
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