News from AAP

US stocks close high ahead of jobs data

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US stocks have swung erratically as the US dollar sank and bond prices rose, but finished higher a day ahead of the government’s release of US employment data for May.

At the closing bell on Thursday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 80.03 points (0.53 per cent) at 15.040.62, after having lost as much as 116 points at mid-session.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 13.59 (0.84 per cent) at 1,622.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 22.57 (0.66 per cent) to 3,424.05.

The market continued to search for direction amid mixed signals from the US and global economies and traders appeared unnerved by the US dollar’s sharp fall against the euro and yen, which came after both the European and British central banks kept monetary policies unchanged.

“The lows in the dollar index occurred at the same time as the lows in equities. Once the noise in currencies subsided, stocks began their afternoon rally,” said Briefing.com.

On Friday the Department of Labor releases its numbers on job creation and unemployment in May, data that give some idea of the direction of the economy and how and when the Fed might pull in its quantitative easing program.

Leaders in large-cap stocks included Pfizer (+2.3 per cent), Verizon (+3.5 per cent) and Home Depot (+2.9 per cent).

Network systems specialist Ciena gained 17.4 per cent after it beat forecasts with a smaller fiscal second-quarter loss and predicted continuing improvement in its market this year.

That also helped push up shares of JDS Uniphase, a Ciena competitor, by 8.3 per cent, while Juniper Networks fell 0.4 per cent.

VeriFone, which makes electronic payments equipment, plunged 20.9 per cent after turning in a fiscal second-quarter loss driven in part by slower sales.

SodaStream International, which sells kits and supplies for making soda drinks at home, surged 10 per cent in early trade after rumours spread that Pepsi would take it over.

Once denied, the shares settled for a 2.7 per cent gain at the end of the session.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.08 per cent from 2.10 per cent late on Wednesday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.23 per cent from 3.26 per cent. Bond prices move inversely to yields.