U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Drop, U.K. Boxing Day Retail Traffic Surges

Nichole Harper
26 Dec, 2013
New York City

U.S. market indexes advanced and weekly jobless claims declined. Markets in Europe were closed and British discount shops saw a surge in traffic on Boxing Day. Reserve Bank of India is likely to pursue other measures than interest rate management to combat elevated inflation.

[R]11:00 AM New York – U.S. market indexes advanced and weekly jobless claims declined. Markets in Europe were closed and British discount shops saw a surge in traffic on Boxing Day. Reserve Bank of India is likely to pursue other measures than interest rate management to combat elevated inflation.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street advanced after weekly jobless claims last week fell and home builders and online retailers were in focus.

S&P 500 index increased 4.42 to 1,837.74 and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 5.58 to 4,161.00.

Markets in Europe were closed and in Asia generally rose. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1% and the Sensex index in India increased 0.2%.

Markets in Australia and Hong Kong were closed to celebrate weeklong Christmas Holidays.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan met finance minister P Chidambaram and discussed the macroeconomic situation.

Earlier, in a separate television interview with the PBS News Hour Rajan said the central bank will pursue “other tools” to combat inflation in addition to interest rate management and support efforts to drive income to rural areas.

British consumers braved cold weather and rain and searched stores for discounts and bargains. On the Boxing Day customer traffic increased 8% from a year ago according to data compiled by Springboard.

Customer traffic at shopping centers increased 22% and high-end department stores saw 3.4% increase in traffic by early morning.

Weekly Jobless Claims Fall

Initial jobless claims fell sharply last week after adjusting for seasonal factors.

Claims of unemployment declined 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 338,000 in the week ending December 21, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The less volatile four-week average increased 4,250 to 348,000. The Labor Department is scheduled to release its estimate of December month unemployment rate on Jan. 10.

U.S. Stocks in Review

eBay ((EBAY)) decreased 2% after the online marketplace said sales increase declined to 9.6% between Thanksgiving and Dec. 22 from 21% in the period between Dec. 15 and Thanksgiving. Channel Advisor said sales growth are measured compared to period a year ago.

Home builders extended gains in the month. D.R. Horton increased 1.2% and PulteGroup added 1.9%.

T-Mobile US Inc increased 1.4% after a report in Nikkei news service in Japan suggested that Softbank is exploring financing options to raise $20 billion and acquire the fourth largest telecom carrier in the U.S.

Tesla added 2.5% after the electric car maker said it plans to open more showrooms in China next year based on its early success at Beijing showroom.