NEW YORK: Stocks shot higher on Thursday as investors brushed aside a record surge in US unemployment benefit claims, instead focusing on progress toward a massive stimulus plan and a pledge by world leaders for a"united front" in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Powell acknowledged there would be a sharp downturn as more and more countries confine people at home and close non-essential businesses to slow the spread of the respiratory ailment COVID-19.last week - the highest number ever recorded.That compares to 281,000 first-time filers in the prior week and blows away the previous record of 695,000 set in October 1982.
There was also movement on a massive US$2 trillion stimulus bill, with the House of Representatives expected to vote on Friday on the measure approved on Wednesday by the Senate.injecting US$5 trillion into the global economy"The united front from the world leaders helped market confidence, because as far as the West is concerned, the battle is in its infancy," said David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Singapore lost more than one per cent as its economy contracted sharply owing to the coronavirus fallout.
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