U.S. Stocks Rise on Jobless Claims Amid Nasdaq Trade Halt

Bloomberg, (22/8) -- U.S. stocks rose on data showing improvement in global manufacturing and the American labor market amid a three-hour trading halt on the Nasdaq Stock Market after a computer error. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.9 percent to 1,656.96 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,963.74. The measure snapped a six-day losing streak, its longest slump in 13 months. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.1 percent to 3,638.71 after trading resumed following a computer error. Computer breakdowns shook American equity trading again as malfunctioning software that feeds data between exchanges prompted Nasdaq to halt trading in stocks and options today starting around 12:20 p.m. in New York. Trading resumed about three hours later. The number of claims in the month ended Aug. 17 declined to 330,500 a week on average, the least since November 2007, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. Compared with a week earlier, claims rose by 13,000 to 336,000, in line with the median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Fed has said it plans to keep benchmark interest rates near zero at least as long as the unemployment rate is above 6.5 percent and inflation is no more than 2.5 percent. Overseas reports showed Germany led growth in manufacturing and services in the euro area, while a gauge for China’s factory output unexpectedly showed expansion. A factory index released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics showed a preliminary reading of 50.1, exceeding the 48.2 median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. Readings above 50 signal growth.