Di Liz Moyer
Investing.com – US stocks moved higher after jobless claims data came in higher-than-expected reading.
At the time of writing the is up 50 points or 0.2%, the is up 0.2% and the is up 0.4%.
Rising jobless claims helped ease fears about the Federal Reserve and interest rates. The rose last week to 211,000 units, hitting a 10-week high.
But the most important data will come on Friday, with the publication of the February. Analysts expect the economy to add 205,000 jobs in the month, but are also waiting to see if the January number will be revised.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress this week that the central bank is ready to step up the pace to tame the economy. But on Wednesday he said their decisions had not yet been made, pending jobs data and new inflation reports expected next week.
Futures traders have increased bets that the Fed will hike rates by half a percentage point at the end of the month, up from a quarter-point hike in February.
The 2-year Treasury, a signal on expectations for the Fed’s key rate, climbed to 5% this week, where it hasn’t been since 2007.
Oil is on the rise. The was up 0.6% to $77.13 a barrel and the was up 0.6% to $83.19 a barrel. I climbed 0.9% to $1,835.