Reuters / Todd Korol
US stocks gained on Thursday as investors digested oil’s relief rally and a second straight week of record jobless claims.
WTI crude oil surged as much as 35% to $27.39 a barrel after President Donald Trump said he expected an oil-market truce between Saudi Arabia and Russia within a few days. That lifted energy stocks, with Chevron and ExxonMobil turning in the biggest gains for the Dow Jones industrial average.
Here’s where major US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Thursday:
Meanwhile, unemployment claims soared to 6.6 million for the period ended March 28, doubling the record reached the previous week and further revealing the extent of layoffs driven by the coronavirus outbreak. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected claims for the week to reach 3.5 million.
The strained labor market also faces pressure on the employers’ side. Businesses slashed nearly half a million job postings last week as virus containment measures led firms to freeze hiring activity, according to the Glassdoor economist Daniel Zhao.
Thursday’s price action followed a 4.4% slide in the previous trading session. Markets tanked on the first day of the second quarter after Trump told Americans to prepare for a “very, very painful two weeks.” New projections from the White House see coronavirus deaths reaching 100,000 to 240,000 as the outbreak intensifies throughout the nation.
As of Thursday, the US had more than 216,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with its death toll swelling past 5,100.
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