Overnight Markets: Wall Street climbs on jobless data

Wall Street gained on Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average extending its winning streak to 10 days, as government data showed jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in almost two months.

The Dow Jones gained 84 points, or 0.58%, to 14,539, a record closing high. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose nine points, or 0.56%, to 1,563, about two points from its record closing high of 1,565, set on 9 October 2007. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 14 points, or 0.43%, to end at 3,259.

Equities rose after data released by the Labour Department on Thursday offered fresh signs of strength in the US labour market as the number of filings for new unemployment benefits fell for the third week in a row.

In a separate report, it said the US Producer Price Index increased in February by the most in five months as gasoline prices spiked.

Energy shares gained the most and led the Dow and the S&P 500 higher. Chevron rose 1.4%, while Chesapeake Energy Corp. added 5.2%.

Elsewhere, International Business Machines shares climbed to a lifetime intraday high of $215.85, and closed at $215.80, up 1.8%. Apple Inc added 1% even as its rival Samsung Electronics launched the latest Galaxy phone in New York yesterday.

Shares of eBay climbed 1.6% after Evercore Partners raised its rating to "overweight". But Amazon fell 3.4% after JP Morgan cut its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "overweight".

Financials declined in extended-hours trading after the Federal Reserve released scores for 18 US bank holding companies and said Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan “exhibited weaknesses” in their capital planning. JP Morgan Chase fell 2% in extended-hours trading while Goldman Sachs lost 1.9%.

E*Trade shares lost 8.2% after Citadel LLC, its largest investor, said it is selling its entire stake in the discount brokerage and bank company.

In Asia, shares gained on Friday in mid-day session as Japan’s upper house confirmed Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor and after US jobless claims unexpectedly dropped.