Major US stock markets jumped on Thursday during the premarket in New York following the publication of the latest batch of economic data on retail sales and jobless claims.
Retail sales rose strongly by 1% in July, significantly surpassing expectations and easing fears of an economic downturn. The figure of 227,000 initial jobless claims for the week ending August 10 contributed to the rise in stock markets; estimates pointed to 235,000, according to Dow Jones.
At 8:38 am ET, the Dow Jones gained 0.76% or 302 points, the Nasdaq 100 added 0.54%, and the S&P 500 was up 0.69%. Two minutes later, the euro was 0.44% lower against the dollar to sell for $1.09640.
