US Market ekes out small gains

The US stock market managed to eke out small gains on Thursday, 24 September 2020, following the release of a mixed batch of U.S. economic data, which added to recent uncertainty about the economic outlook.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced by 52.31 points, or 0.2%, to 26,815.44. The S&P 500 index added 9.67 points, or 0.3%, to 3,246.59. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 39.28 points, or 0.37%, to 10,672.27.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came following the release of a mixed batch of U.S. economic data, which added to recent uncertainty about the economic outlook. Before the start of trading, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims inched up to 870,000 in the week ended September 19th, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 866. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a new home sales report showing new home sales jumped by 4.8% to an annual rate of 1.011 million in August after skyrocketing by 14.7% to an upwardly revised rate of 965,000 in July.

Continued concerns about a lack of additional fiscal stimulus, election-related uncertainty, and a rise in Covid-19 cases weighed on sentiment. Reports on Thursday afternoon underlined that Congressional Democrats and Republicans were still far apart on the contents and price tag of a potential coronavirus relief bill.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US New Home Sales Rise Significantly In August-US new home sales jumped by 4.8% to an annual rate of 1.011 million in August after skyrocketing by 14.7% to an upwardly revised rate of 965,000 in July, a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed. With the unexpected increase, new home sales surged up to their highest level since reaching 1.016 million in September of 2006. New home sales in the South spiked by 13.4% to an annual rate of 636,000, while new home sales in the Northeast jumped by 5.0% to a rate of 42,000. On the other hand, the report said new home sales in the Midwest plunged by 21.4% to a rate of 99,000. New home sales in the West also slid 1.7% to a rate of 234,000. The Commerce Department said the median sales price of new houses sold in August was $312,800, down 4.6% from $327,800 in July and down 4.3% from $327,000 a year ago. The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 282,000, representing 3.3 months of supply at the current sales rate. The months of supply is down from 3.6 in July.

US Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Higher To 870,000US initial jobless claims inched up to 870,000 in the week ended September 19th, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 866,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 878,250, a decrease of 35,250 from the previous week's revised average of 913,500. The report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also slid by 167,000 to 12.580 million in the week ended September 12th.

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