Banks lead global shares higher
US stocks rose on Thursday, putting the S&P 500 on the cusp of finishing out the year higher as another decline in jobless claims pointed to further improvement in the labor market.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.84 points, or 0.51 percent, at 12,169.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 10.29 points, or 0.83 percent, at 1,254.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 21.48 points, or 0.83 percent, at 2,599.45.
European shares rose, boosted by mostly upbeat data from the United States, the world's biggest economy, and with banks gaining after taking advantage of cheap finance offered by the European Central Bank.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 1.1 percent to close at 982.01 points. However, volume was very thin at just 56.1 percent of the index's 90-day average, on the last full trading day before Christmas, and strategists cautioned against reading too much into the movement.
Japan's blue-chip index snapped a two-day winning run today and met strong resistance near its 25-day moving average, with the machine tools sector weighed down by a brokerage downgrade.The Nikkei average ended 0.8% lower at 8,395.16 before a three-day weekend, though it was flat for the week and the 25-day moving average near 8,459 was seen as a key resistance level. The broader Topix index eased 0.4% as overseas investors continued to unload Japanese stocks.
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