US stocks gain as jobless-claims data suggests mounting labor-market recovery

• US stocks gained on Thursday after weekly jobless claims fell to a three-week low, suggesting a recovery in the labor market is underway.
• Jobless claims of 847,000 came in better than analyst expectations of 875,000.
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US stocks moved higher on Thursday after weekly jobless claims suggested that a recovery in the labor market is underway.

Claims fell to a three-week low, hitting 847,000. That's better than analysts expectations of 875,000 jobless claims, and represented a 7% decline form last week's number.

Continuing claims, which track Americans receiving unemployment-insurance payments, dropped to 4.8 million for the week that ended January 16. Economists expected continuing claims to total 5.1 million.

Here's where US indexes stood after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 3,773.55, up 0.61%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 30,513.18, up 0.69% (210.01 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 13,327.52, up 0.47%

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The epic short squeeze in GameStop continued in early Thursday trades, with shares soaring as much as 40% to almost $500 in the pre-market session. But Robinhood's decision to limit trading in the stock seemed to have deflated Thursday's rally, with the stock ultimately falling more than 10%.

American Airlines benefited from Reddit traders pitching the stock as a potential short-squeeze candidate. The stock soared as much as 81% in its pre-market trading session after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

Apple's fourth-quarter earnings report beat analyst expectations by a mile, but the stock still traded lower by about 1%. Tesla fell 4% on Thursday after the company's fourth-quarter earnings report failed to meet analyst expectations.

Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped as much as 0.87%, to $53.33 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, gained 0.93%, to $56.33 per barrel, at intraday highs.

Gold rose 0.81%, to $1,859.90 per ounce.

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