Unemployment Fell By &Nbsp; &Nbsp; Dow Rose 0.37% On Thursday.

Before Thursday, the US Department of labor announced its first application last week. Unemployment relief The drop in accidents also proves once again that the macroeconomic situation and the employment market in the US are improving gradually. Although the second major couriers of the United States, the FedEx profits were not as good as expected, they did not affect the optimism of the market. Finally, the three major stock index stocks rose.

As of 4:00 pm Eastern time, Dow Jones industrial average Up 43 points. Gain From 0.37% to 11500, the Nasdaq composite index rose 20 points, or 0.77%, to 2637 points; the standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8 points, or 0.62%, to 1243 points.

Economic data:

The latest figures released by the labor department on Thursday showed that the number of initial jobless claims dropped unexpectedly last week, which once again proved that the US macroeconomic situation and employment market situation is gradually improving. The statement said that in the week ending December 11, 2010, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States was 420 thousand, a decrease of 3000 compared with the previous period, which is also better than that expected by Wall Street economists. Economists said earlier that the number of initial jobless claims would increase slightly last week.

The US Department of Commerce latest data show that as of the third quarter of this year, the US current account deficit was US $127 billion 200 million, a slight increase compared with the US $123 billion 200 million in the second quarter of this year.

In November, the US new housing utilization rate reached 555 thousand sets after the quarterly adjustment, which is 3.9% higher than the previous period. The new housing starts released by the US Department of Commerce reached the forecast level of Wall Street analysts.

The revised data released by the European Union Statistics Bureau on 16 showed that the euro area inflation rate in November this year was 1.9%, unchanged from the previous month. This is consistent with the preliminary forecast issued by the European Union's Statistics Bureau at the end of last month, and is still within the 2% warning line set by the European Central Bank for maintaining price stability.

Macro news:

Basel's banking regulator said on Thursday that if the new Basel capital requirement is to be implemented by the end of 2009, the financial institutions covered will have to spend more than 602 billion euros ($797 billion) to make the final compliance.

Lawmakers in the house of Representatives delayed the vote on the tax bill supported by the Obama administration on Thursday, restarting the debate on the bill and the potential vote may begin as early as Thursday. The White House has been pushing the house of representatives to pass the tax bill, which extended the tax reduction policy during the Bush era and extended the existing unemployment relief policy and new regulations on inheritance tax. However, some members of the house of representatives have been trying to amend the bill.

European Union leaders held a summit in Brussels to discuss how to deal with the continued spread of the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, and most European stock markets rose slightly. Although the oil giant, BP, fell sharply after being formally charged by the US government, the European stock index closed up 0.38% last Thursday.

Enterprise focus:

FedEx, the second largest express company in the US, released its performance report in the second fiscal quarter on Thursday. The report shows that the company made a profit of 283 million dollars in the quarter, or 89 cents per share, less than 345 million US dollars a year, or about 1.10 US dollars per share. The earnings report also showed that the company's earnings per share were $1.16 excluding special items. The company's revenue grew by 12% to $9 billion 630 million during the quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomsen Reuters had expected that FedEx would make a profit of $1.31 per share in the two quarter, with an expected revenue of $9 billion 700 million.

Honda motor company, Japan's second largest auto maker, announced on Thursday that it will recall 1 million 350 thousand fleet of compact cars in the world because of the failure of their headlights.

The US General Mills (GeneralMills) announced its second quarter earnings this Thursday. Data showed that the net income of General Mills increased by 9% to $613 million 900 thousand in the second quarter and 92 cents per share, compared with a net profit of 565 million 500 thousand US dollars and 83 cents a share in the same period last year.