Wall Street Finished Mixed On Thursday

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The major U.S. averages finished on opposite sides of the line on Thursday as Wall Street opened higher but retreated after the release of U.S. jobless data.The Dow jumped 594.83 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 52,900.07, while the NASDAQ tumbled 207.36 points or 0.80 per…

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The major U.S. averages finished on opposite sides of the line on Thursday as Wall Street opened higher but retreated after the release of U.S. jobless data.

The Dow jumped 594.83 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 52,900.07, while the NASDAQ tumbled 207.36 points or 0.80 percent to end at 25,832.67 and the S&P 500 perked 0.01 point or 0.00 percent to close at 7,483.24.

Wall Street will be closed on Friday for the July 4 holiday, while the bond markets also will be shuttered.

The markets opened slightly higher on Thursday but were clearly waiting on the jobs data. Stocks slumped after the Labor Department released a report showing employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of June.

The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 57,000 jobs in June after jumping by 129,000 jobs in May. Economists had expected employment to climb by 114,000 jobs compared to the addition of 172,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Sentiment eventually turned higher again as the lower-than-expected payrolls data caused markets to tone down fears of an immediate rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

In other U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department reported a steep drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in May, thanks to a sharp pullback in new orders for durable goods. Also, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday after the U.S. and Iran expressed contradictory remarks over the management of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $0.05 or 0.07 percent at $68.63 per barrel.

The markets in Europe closed on a strong note on Thursday, led by gains in pharmaceuticals and defensive sectors. Easing concerns about inflation and interest rates, as well as a new reform package from the German government and some encouraging corporate news contributed to the positive mood in the markets.