Wall Street higher at midday following US economic data

Wall Street higher at midday following US economic data

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12:27pm: Nasdaq joins the other indices in the green In the US, the Dow was up 148 points, 0.4%, to 34,471 at midday. The Nasdaq added 31 points, 0.2%, to 13,769, and the S&P 500 improved 14 points, 0.3%, to 4,210. "Today has seen better-than-expected data released from the US, with another drop in jobless claims and a 1% rise in core durable goods serving to highlight the improvements seen in April and May," IG Senior Market Analyst Joshua Mahony wrote. "The dollar has been lifted by this improved data, with traders casting aside haven concerns to instead focus on the prospect that these figures could help drive further tapering talk." AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC), a darling of internet day traders, is up another 16% today to $22.78. 10:10am: Proactive North America headlines: AIM ImmunoTech Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:AIM) (FRA:HXB2) extends pact with Shenzhen Smoore Technology to develop Ampligen as inhalation therapy for coronavirus, other respiratory diseases HempFusion Wellness Inc (TSE:CBD.U) (OTCQX:CBDHF) (FRA:8OO) sponsors bobsleigh champion Kaillie Humphries in her quest for more Olympic gold Neo Lithium Corp (CVE:NLC) (OTCQX:NTTHF) discovers new deep brine aquifer outside of the resource area on 3Q project in Argentina Renforth Resources Inc (CSE:RFR) (OTCPINK:RFHRF) (FRA:9RR) releases last hole of 2020 Parbec drilling results; updates on Malartic West and Nixon-Bartleman projects Amarillo Gold Corporation (CVE:AGC) (OTCQB:AGCBF) (FRA:72A) ends 1Q with C$40.7M in cash to advance Posse gold project towards production ImagineAR Inc (CSE:IP) (OTCQB:IPNFF) (FRA:GMS1) named a finalist in competition to pitch technology to Euroleague Basketball clubs and execs Victory Resources Corporation (CSE:VR) (FRA:VR61) (OTCPINK:VRCFF) eyes copper potential of Black Diablo project in Nevada as it awaits sampling results First Cobalt Corp (CVE:FCC) (OTCQX:FTSSF) (FRA:18P) unaudited 1Q results show it has $16M in cash and working capital of $20.2M American Manganese Inc (CVE:AMY) (OTCQB:AMYZF) (FRA:2AM) sends RecycLiCo process sample to international cathode manufacturer for validation Global Energy Metals Corporation (CVE:GEMC) (OTCMKTS:GLBEF) boosts Lovelock drill program to 2,000 metres to encompass nearby Treasure Box project Nano One Materials Corp (CVE:NNO) (OTCPINK:NNOMF) (FRA:LBMB) gets conditional nod to uplist to the TSX Venture Exchange Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc (CSE:AGN) (OTCQB:AGNPF) (FRA:AGW)  points to new research at Hungary university showing potential for DMT as stroke treatment CytoDyn Inc (OTCQB:CYDY) says Biomm SA to submit request to conduct Phase 3 clinical studies of leronlimab with ANVISA in Brazil Tocvan Ventures (CSE:TOC) (FRA:TV3) says it is 'extremely pleased' with early stage drill results at flagship Pilar project 9.40am: Wall Street on front foot The main Wall Street indices have managed to start Thursday’s session mostly on the front foot after some mostly positive US economic data. In the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.63% at 34,540 while the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 4,208. The one outlier was the Nasdaq, which in early deals was down 0.03% at 13,733. Investors may have been given a slight boost as new figures showed US weekly jobless claims are continuing to decline. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week from an unrevised 444,000 to 406,000. This is a new pandemic low, the lowest level since March 14, 2020, and better than the forecast figure of 425,000. The four-week moving average fell by 46,000 to 458,750, again the lowest level since March 14 last year. Meanwhile, the second estimate of US GDP for the second quarter was unchanged from the first at an annualised 6.4%, down from 4.3% in the fourth quarter of last year. US durable good orders were more mixed, falling 1.3% in April and worse than the 0.8% growth expected. 7:55am: Wall Street set for a slight dip After slight gains on Wednesday, Wall Street is expected to dip slightly at the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is forecast to edge down imperceptibly by 2 points while the S&P 500 is forecast to open down 0.18% and the Nasdaq Composite to show a 0.33% decline. Investors are waiting for a raft of US economic data which will show the strength of the world's largest economy and provide more discussion about if and when the US Federal Reserve needs to act on inflationary pressures. There is a second estimate of first-quarter GDP, which initially showed a 6.4% annualised gain, better than the 6.1% expected. Meanwhile, the weekly jobless claims are forecast to fall from 444,000 to around 425,000. Sophie Griffiths at Oanda said: "US futures are edging slightly lower as investors brace themselves for a slew of numbers today, including a potential upward revision to first-quarter GDP data and jobless claims, which are expected to fall to a fresh pandemic low. These numbers come ahead of tomorrow's PCE [personal consumption expenditures] inflation data. "Inflation jitters are making a comeback ahead of tomorrow's data, which is pulling futures lower. Expectations are for a PCE jump to 2.9% year on year in April, up from 1.8% in March." Four things to watch for on Thursday: Companies in the earnings diary today include cloud software firm Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), wholesaler Costco Corp (NASDAQ:COST) and computing giant Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL) Healthcare apparel maker Figs Inc will be in focus as it begins its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange after pricing its IPO at US$22 per share, above its initial range of between US$16-US$19 and valuing the group at around US$3.6bn. Clothing retailer Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) could also draw some attention after inking  a partnership with retail titan Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) to launch its first home collection On the macro front, US durable goods orders data will be in focus alongside GDP readings and jobless claims

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