FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2013, file photo, Maureen Smaldone, a trader for Brendan E. Cryan and Company, monitors trading activity from her workstation at the New York Stock Exchange. The positive mood in financial markets showed few signs of abating Thursday March 7, 2013 ahead of policy statements from Europe's top two central banks. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Stocks gain after unemployment claims fall
Published: 04:47:56 PM, Thu 07 March 2013 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks indexes are heading for a fifth straight gain after the government reported another drop in claims for unemployment benefits, the latest sign that the job market is improving.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 46 points at 14,324 shortly before noon EST Thursday. The Dow barreled through a record high Tuesday and has been adding to those gains.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points to 1,544. The Nasdaq composite rose nine points to 3,231.
The market got a boost after the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell by 7,000 last week, driving the four-week average to its lowest in five years.
Supermarket chain Kroger rose 4 percent after reporting earnings that easily beat the forecasts of Wall Street analysts.
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