The jump in energy stock prices on Thursday was primarily responsible for the strengthening of the value of American stock indices on Wall Street.
The New York Dow Jones index rose by 0.25 percent, to 13,913 points. The S&P index strengthened by 0.4 percent, to 1,531 points. The technology Nasdaq also gained 0.4 percent, closing trading at 2,709 points. The jump in the price of a barrel of oil by 3.2 percent due to concerns about supply security and the decline in the value of the US dollar prompted the rise in stock prices of the largest oil companies and those providing services to them. Thus, Exxon Mobil’s stock strengthened by 0.7 percent, while Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services company, increased by two percent. Furthermore, the dollar exchange rate fell to a record low against a basket of international currencies and the euro in anticipation of financial markets that the US central bank would undertake another interest rate cut.
This, in turn, also strengthened the stocks of technology companies, as lower interest rates are expected to stimulate entrepreneurs’ spending on information technology. The larger jump in prices was limited by conflicting reports on the health of the US economy. Earlier during trading, a report was released showing a decline in new home sales in August by 8.3 percent, to about 795,000 homes, and the sharpest drop in their prices on an annual basis in the past 37 years. This reminded investors of the persistent slowdown in activity in the real estate market. However, the surprising decrease in the number of new unemployment claims in the past week, by 15,000 to 298,000, suggested that the labor market is still holding up well. “We are not out of the woods when looking at home sales data.
