Business News - U.S. markets head up Thursday

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U.S. markets head up Thursday

NEW YORK (UPI) -- A drop in first time jobless claims helped push U.S. stocks toward the 10,000 point mark Thursday.

The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ending Oct. 31.

The department also said productivity shot up 9.5 percent in the third quarter, beating expectations by 3.2 percentage points.

Wednesday's Federal Reserve announcement that it would keep bank-to-bank lending rates unchanged sent stocks tumbling but confidence returned Thursday.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.75 percent, adding 171.47 points to 9,973.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 1.54 percent, 16.11 points, to 1,062.61. The Nasdaq composite index added 42.09, 2.1 percent, to 2,098.61.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell 1/32 to yield 3.522 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4858 from Wednesday's $1.4867. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 90.61 yen from Wednesday's 80.59 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.29 percent, 126.87, to 9,717.44.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.35 percent, 17.75, to 5,125.64.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 11/05/2009

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