Initial Claims Continue at High Levels; Rush Limbaugh Passes

News out of the employment sector was not particularly pleasant Thursday morning.

The Labor Department reported 861,000 initial unemployment claims last week, against 773,000 expected and an upwardly revised 848,000 during the previous week

Continuing claims for the week ended February 6 stood at 4.494 million.

Following a session which saw some of the most pronounced declines win weeks - only to miraculously finish nearly unchanged - futures are pointing to a negative open in the major indices.

On Wednesday, the Dow was down nearly 200 points in early going, the NASDAQ dipped more than 240 points before rallying to erase 2/3rds of the losses.

Yield on the 10-year note fell back to 1.26 during the session, but finished off just one basis point, at 1.29%, a position of considerable anxiety for equity traders.

Approaching the opening bell, European stocks were lower, oil higher.

America and the world lost a bit of its treasure last night, as Rush Limbaugh passed away. He was 70.

At the Close, Wednesday, February 17, 2021:
Dow: 31,613.02, +90.27 (+0.29%)
NASDAQ: 13,965.50, -82.00, (-0.58%)
S&P 500: 3,931.33, -1.26 (-0.03%)
NYSE: 15,402.59, -20.43 (-0.13%)