US Stocks Surge Amid Rate Hike Announcement and Unexpected Jobless Claims Drop
The US stock market closed higher on Thursday, following the Federal Reserve's rate hike announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 316.14 points, up 0.61%, to 51,778.04; the S&P 500 gained 85.91 points, a rise of 1.14%, closing at 7,637.72; and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 439.87 points, up 1.69%, to 26,418.30.
The unexpected drop in US weekly initial jobless claims likely contributed to the market's positive performance. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, for the week ending September 12, the number of seasonally adjusted initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased by 10,000 to 196,000, while economists had widely forecast 208,000.
Several tech stocks performed well on Thursday, with Intel (INTC.US) surging over 7.6% and NVIDIA (NVDA.US) rising 2.5%. However, not all indices rose; the Nikkei 225 fell slightly, while the Korea Composite Index edged lower.