Dow jumps at Thursday's open, Nasdaq erases 2020 losses as investors bet coronavirus jobless claims peaking

U.S. stock benchmarks on Thursday rose sharply at the open, with the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite on the brink of wiping out all of its 2020 losses. The moves for stocks come even after a report on jobless claims for the week ended May 2 rose by 3.169 million, bringing the total people looking for work in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic at around 33 million. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 263 points, or 1.1%, at 23,927, those for the S&P 500 index were up 1.3% at 2,886, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.4% at 8,974, showing a year-to-date gain of less than 0.1%, which wipes out its losses for the year, according to FactSet data. Investors were taking some heart in the fact that weekly claims have decreased over the past few weeks, though they remain historically elevated.

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