NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks moved higher in early trading Thursday, breaking a four-day losing streak after the latest reading on the jobs market and mixed retail sales reports.
The moderate gains in stocks came as the Labor Department said the number of people filing for unemployment claims fell last week by 4,000 to 570,000. However, the market had been expecting a bigger drop to 560,000. The number of people continuing to receive benefits rose.
Investors have been anxious this week for more insight on the labor market. Friday will bring the government's report on August job losses, the month's most telling piece of economic data. In July, job losses slowed and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell. Investors are eager to see those trends continue.
The market is also sifting through a number of sales reports from retailers. Overall, sales are still weak, but many companies, including Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Limited Brands Inc., beat expectations.
Reports on housing and manufacturing have recently shown improvement, but unemployment, and the resulting clampdown on consumer spending, has left investors wary. Concerns that the economy is not healing fast enough, and that a six-month rally in stocks had gone too far have led to four days of losses in the stock market.
In the first half hour of trading, the Dow Jones link...
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