Initial jobless claims rose by 20,000 during the last week of October, according to today’s report by the Department of Labor (which you can find here). But this piece of negative news was not enough to overshadow yesterday’s announcement by the Federal Reserve that they would begin quantitative easing efforts by buying treasuries at a rate of $75 billion per month until $600 billion had been purchased. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up significantly all day following the Fed’s announcement and it eventually closed at 11,434.84 a gain of 219.71 points. The Nasdaq was also up, a total of 37.07 points to 2,577.34 and the S&P 500 rose 23.09 points to 1,221.05.
European and Asian markets were all up on Thursday, despite news of impending aggressive budget cuts in Ireland and a press release from the global financial information services company Markit Economics Limited, that states employment in Ireland during October had its sharpest decline in six months. You can see the full Markit press release here.
Stocks in the news: Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ: WFMI), Macy’s Inc (NYSE: M), Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc (NYSE: POT), BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE: BHP).
