Weekly initial jobless claims fell by 24,000 to 601,000, versus last week's figure that was upwardly revised by 4,000 to 625,000. The consensus called for claims to reach 615,000. The four-week moving average fell by 10,500 to 621,750, but continuing claims jumped, rising 59,000 to 6,816,000, versus the forecast of 6,780,000.
Advance retail sales rose 0.5% in May, in line with the forecast, while April's decline was revised from -0.4% to -0.2%. Ex-autos, sales also gained 0.5%, versus a projected reading of a 0.2% increase. April's decline was also favorably revised from -0.5% to -0.2%.
Business inventories fell 1.1% in April, slightly more than the forecast of a 1.0% decline, while March's drop was revised larger from -1.0% to -1.3%. Sales declined by 0.3%, but the inventory-to-sales ratio fell slightly from 1.44 in March to 1.43.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32 points (0.4%) to close at 8,771, the S&P 500 Index gained 6 points (0.6%) to 945, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 9 points (0.5%) to 1,862. Crude oil rose $1.35 to $71.68 per barrel, and gold lost $0.15 to $954.35 per ounce.
Magnificent Seven Update
Daily Update Of Open Positions...Stocks & ETFs
