A Slight Step Up

Thursday’s session ended in green territory. Bank of America, JPMorgan, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel led the Dow’s ascent. The S&P 500 hit yet another five-year high level. Stocks stepped up amid varied economic data. Initial jobless claims increased. The Labor Department said new claims rose by 4,000 to 371,000 last week. Up from the prior week’s downwardly revised figure of 367,000, economists had anticipated 365,000 new claims. In other news, the Census Bureau reported a jump in wholesale inventories. Inventories rose by 0.6% in November, following a downwardly revised 0.3% boost in October. Economists had expected a lesser rise of 0.3%. Elsewhere, crude oil futures added 86 cents today to settle at $93.96 a barrel.

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