NEW YORK — Miners and other companies dealing in commodities helped pull the stock market out of a three-day slump on Thursday. NEW YORK — Miners and other companies dealing in commodities helped pull the stock market out of a
NEW YORK — Miners and other companies dealing in commodities helped pull the stock market out of a three-day slump on Thursday.
News that China’s trade rebounded last month signaled the end of a six-month slowdown for the world’s biggest buyer of raw materials. The report drove prices up for copper and other commodities, and that helped lift Newmont Mining, Freeport-McMoRan and other stocks in the materials industry.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 6.57 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,697.48.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.65 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,498.32. The Nasdaq composite gained 15.12 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,669.12.
With little other news to drive trading, the stock market had meandered lower this week. The S&P 500 index fell three days straight and remains down 0.7 for the week. It’s still up 19 percent this year.
In economic news, the government reported that the average number of people who applied for unemployment benefits over the past four weeks dropped 6,250 to 335,500. That’s the lowest level since November 2007, a month before the Great Recession got underway.
Gradual but steady gains for the U.S. economy and corporate profits have lifted the stock market to record territory this year. The S&P 500 index closed at an all-time high of 1,709.67 on Friday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.58 percent from 2.60 percent late Wednesday.
