Follow our blogs on Twitter: .biz blog | Centsible Saver | Tech Junkie | Mouthful | Green Scene | Warm TV

Published Fri, Feb 17, 2012 04:11 AM
Modified Thu, Feb 16, 2012 09:00 PM

Dow draws close to 13,000

Article

0 COMMENTS

Email Print Order Reprint

Share This

Text

tool goes here

BY CHRISTINA REXRODE - Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Investors sent U.S. stocks barreling to their highest levels of the year Thursday, buoyed by slivers of encouraging news about jobs and housing. At least for a day, they overlooked the lack of clarity about Greece's marathon negotiation for a bailout.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 123.13 points to close at 12,904.08, its third triple-digit gain this year. It was the highest close for the Dow since May 19, 2008, four months before the worst of the financial crisis. As the Dow moved to within sight of 13,000, applause broke out at the closing bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 14.81 points to 1,358.04, its highest close in nine and a half months. The Nasdaq composite, which has had an even stronger year than the Dow and S&P and is trading at its highest since 2000, rose 44.02 points to 2,959.85.

The rally was broad, with all but one of the 30 stocks in the Dow, Kraft Foods, closing higher. All 10 industry groups in the S&P were comfortably higher, led by materials stocks.

The Labor Department said weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped for the fourth time in five weeks to the lowest point since March 2008. That was when the jobless rate was just 5.1 percent, far below the current rate of 8.3 percent.

Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.

Email Print Order Reprint

More Economy

Crippled law firm files for bankruptcy
Dewey & LeBoeuf, the law firm crippled by financial miscues and partner defections, filed for bankruptcy on Monday night, punctuating the largest law firm collapse in U.S. history.
Facebook's stock falls below $30 for first time
Facebook's stock has fallen below $30 for the first time since its much-awaited public debut this month.
Americans grew gloomier about the economy in May
Americans grew much gloomier about the economy in May, causing a critical measure of consumer confidence to suffer its biggest decline in eight months and ending a period of steady optimism.
Home prices rise in most major US cities
Home prices rose in March from February in most major U.S. cities for the first time in seven months. The increase is the latest evidence of a slow recovery taking shape in the housing market.
Embittered Facebook investors ponder next move
To say that Facebook's debut as a public company was bungled is something like saying Facebook is a website you might have heard of.
Recession generation has adulthood on hold
Alyssa Kjellberg still can’t believe it. Two years beyond college, her career path has led only to jobs at a greenhouse, a hotel front desk, an aunt’s office and a seasonal landscaping company – all paying less than $12 an hour.
Men chase success in jobs traditionally held by women
Wearing brick-red-hued scrubs and chattering in Spanish, Miguel Alquicira settled a tiny girl into an adult-size dental chair and soothed her through a set of X-rays. Then he ushered the dentist, a woman, into the room and stayed on to serve as interpreter.
To find a job, get your space and yourself organized
Dealing with unemployment requires an organized mind, a place for everything and a good tool kit.
Triangle jobless rate dips slightly to 7.7 percent in April
The unemployment rate declined to 7.6 percent in Raleigh, and remained unchanged in Durham at 7.4 percent. The Triangle’s unemployment rate remains well below the state rate of 9.4 percent.
May's consumer confidence at highest level since 2007
WASHINGTON-Despite Europe's economic troubles, American consumers are feeling better about the economy than at any time since the start of the Great Recession.