Markets Surge As Economic Recovery Takes Hold

The stock market was on a record rise on Thursday, with several nods given to an American economy that is on its way to recovery.

While initial jobless claims made little movement last week, orders for durable goods were on the rise in May, the highest increase since January, signaling that the economic recovery plan is starting to work

Initial jobless claims moved from 418,000 to 411,000 filed for the week ending June 19, according to a report released by the Department of Labor on Thursday.

“Economic reopening and a strengthening labor market should lead to renewed declines in unemployment filings, with the summer months promising to bring us closer to the normal we’ve all been craving ,” Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, said in an email.

The GDP report from the Census Bureau indicated a growth of 6.4% for first-quarter gross domestic product, which was unchanged from estimates and forecasts.

Most major groups within the S&P rose on Thursday, led by technology and retail companies, with the best performer being Eli Lilly & Co., Bloomberg reported.

Eli Lilly saw an increase based on gaining breakthrough status of its Alzheimer’s drug donanemab - an investigational antibody therapy - from the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday. The breakthrough status for Eli Lilly follows the FDA approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm earlier in June.

Compounding the record start of the day is the expected agreement that is expected to come from President Biden and a group of bipartisan senators on a $559 billion infrastructure plan, which would meet one of his top priorities, sources told Bloomberg.