Jobs Report Encourages Early Buying

Stocks jumped at Wednesday's opening bell as the bulls celebrated the lowest level for initial jobless claims since July 2008 by quickly recovering a chunk of Tuesday's tumble. Today's Markets As of 9:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.60 points, or 0.85%, to 11030.18, the Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 10.88 points, 0.92%, to 1191.61 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 31.41 points, or 1.26%, to 2426.52. The FOX 50 added 6.22 points, or 0.73%, to 854.28. In addition to the unexpected plunge in weekly jobless claims, Wall Street was cheering upbeat news on the retail front from Tiffany TIF and Guess GES and looking ahead to a key report on consumer sentiment. The early bullishness allowed Wall Street to recapture a portion of Tuesday's 142-point slide on the Dow, which was fueled by worries about tensions in Asia, debt troubles in Europe and the widening insider-trading probe on Wall Street. Due to Thanksgiving, which will close the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday and result in a shortened-session on Friday, Wall Street had four major economic reports to digest on Wednesday. The holiday is also likely to result in thinner trading volumes that can increase volatility. The rally picked up steam after the Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped last week by 34,000 to 407,000 -- the lowest level since July 2008. Wall Street had been bracing for a modest rise in claims. The four-week moving average of claims slid to the lowest level since August 2008, the month before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The government also said personal spending grew by 0.4% in October, matching estimates and marking the fourth-straight monthly increase. Personal incomes climbed 0.5% after flatlining in September. However, the economic news wasn't all bullish as the Commerce Department said durable goods orders dropped by 3.3% in October -- the biggest drop since an 8% nosedive in January 2009 during the depth of the recession. Excluding transportation, orders slid 2.7%, the worst decline since March 2009. Later on Wednesday Wall Street could be moved by a new report on November consumer sentiment set to be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. Read the rest here.