US close: Markets close firmer after Wednesday's losses

Wall Street stocks finished in positive territory on Thursday, following a heavy sell-off in the previous session and some better than expected jobless claims numbers.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.99% at 30,603.36, as the S&P 500 added 0.98% to 3,787.38 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% to 13,337.16.

The Dow closed 300.19 points higher on Thursday, cutting into losses recorded in the previous session - its worst since October.

Earlier in the session, comments from the Federal Reserve were in focus, with the central bank making it clear it was content on maintaining existing monetary policy.

However, sentiment was still taking a hit even though the central bank vowed to continue supporting the economy.

On the macro front, America's economy continued expanding at the tail-end of 2020 with economists anticipating that the rebound from the Covid-19 crisis was set to continue.

According to the Department of Commerce, US gross domestic product grew at an annualised pace of 4.0% over the three months ending in December, against consensus forecasts for 4.1%.

The goods gap in the US narrowed to $82.5bn in December of 2020 from a revised $85.5bn in the previous month, an advance estimate from the Census Bureau showed, with exports increasing 4.6%, mainly boosted by sales of industrial supplies and imports rising at a slower 1.4%.

Elsewhere, the number of Americans filing for unemployment claims slipped again during the latest week.

According to the Department of Labor, initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 23 January dropped by 67,000 from the week before to reach 847,000.

Still on data, new home sales rose for the first time in five months in December, topping off the best year for the market since 2006 amid record-low mortgage rates.

Purchases of new single-family houses increased 1.6% to an 842,000 annualised pace in December, up from a downwardly revised 829,000 clip in the prior month, according to the Census Bureau.

Lastly, the Conference Board's leading index increased just 0.3% in December to 109.5, suggesting that US economic growth was continuing to moderate in the first quarter of 2021.

In equities, Facebook was down 2.62% even after it beat on top and bottom lines in its fourth-quarter earnings overnight.

The social media behemoth cautioned that a reversal in Covid-19 pandemic trends would likely impact its advertising business.

Worse-than-expected quarterly numbers from electric carmaker Tesla saw its stock fall 3.32%.

Apple was off 3.5% even after it turned in its largest quarterly revenue performance in history overnight, bringing in $111.4bn.

On Thursday's earnings slate, Mastercard added 2.66% after the credit card giant topped earnings expectations, while McDonald's was off 0.47% after its earnings fell short of predictions on the Street as European lockdowns weighed on sales.

American Airlines surged 9.3% despite posting a record quarterly loss as a result of chatter on the same Reddit forum that has sent GameStop shares through the roof in recent days and led the likes of Interactive Brokers and Robinhood to limit transactions for several heavily shorted names.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $171.88 5.43%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $56.06 4.62%
American Express Co. (AXP) $118.97 4.28%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $134.72 2.82%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $238.93 2.59%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $184.34 2.05%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $130.11 1.76%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $202.84 1.74%
Visa Inc. (V) $198.22 1.67%
Boeing Co. (BA) $197.23 1.65%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $137.09 -3.50%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $120.08 -1.95%
3M Co. (MMM) $183.42 -1.73%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $247.75 -1.32%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $50.68 -0.98%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.34 -0.79%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $206.82 -0.09%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $143.75 -0.06%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $54.38 -0.02%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%

S&P 500 - Risers

L Brands Inc (LB) $41.43 10.36%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $18.10 9.30%
Abiomed Inc. (ABMD) $355.13 8.07%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,034.10 7.85%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $27.79 7.75%
United Rentals Inc. (URI) $253.56 7.32%
Transdigm Group Inc. (TDG) $555.73 7.16%
Twitter Inc (TWTR) $51.57 7.01%
Smith A O Corp. (AOS) $56.91 6.99%
AES Corp. (AES) $24.55 6.93%

S&P 500 - Fallers

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $11.91 -22.46%
Macerich Co (MAC) $19.01 -15.06%
Macy's Inc. (M) $15.57 -12.18%
Iron Mountain Inc (New) (IRM) $33.41 -9.73%
Kroger Co. (KR) $35.38 -8.70%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $194.60 -8.38%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $118.25 -7.75%
Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) $48.75 -7.51%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $36.40 -7.26%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $66.65 -7.07%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

American Airlines Group (AAL) $18.10 9.30%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,034.10 7.85%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,844.73 7.33%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $51.60 6.57%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $654.65 6.31%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $113.79 5.47%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $536.58 5.29%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $56.06 4.62%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $75.78 4.51%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $78.39 4.39%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $66.65 -7.07%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.40 -6.84%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $136.40 -5.59%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $12.75 -5.10%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $137.09 -3.50%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $835.43 -3.32%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $56.44 -3.27%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $80.66 -3.17%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $93.55 -2.96%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $265.00 -2.62%