Frank Miller reporting...
Stocks finished solidly in the green with the Dow up over 200 points Thursday.
Stocks started off in the red though, as traders continued to react to the Fed’s monetary policy announcement yesterday. The central bank kept rates unchanged and indicated that it does not expect to raise rates again this year.
Stocks pushed into positive territory following some positive economic reports. The Labor Department said there bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims for the week ended March 16th.
Meanwhile a separate report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said regional manufacturing activity rebounded more than expected.
Shares of Apple helped to lead the broader markets to the upside. The stock climbed about 4% and touched its best intraday levels in months. The advance came following an analyst upgrade.
Shares of Levi Strauss were back trading on the NY Stock Exchange today after a three-decade hiatus. The stock was expected to open at 17 dollars a share but ended up launching much higher at 22.00 a share.
Crude oil futures prices ended lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The near-month contract for the benchmark grade fell 25 cents -- closing at $59.98 a barrel.




