A day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell painted a less-than-rosy picture of the U.S. employment situation, economic data provided some support for that idea.
The Labor Department on Thursday reported 793,000 initial unemployment-benefits claims for the week ended Feb. 6. That was better than the prior week’s revised 812,000 filings, but more than the 760,000 expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Stocks broadly searched for direction for another day, though a couple pockets of the market had a very clear bent. Semiconductor stocks including Nvidia (NVDA, +3.3%) and Intel (INTC, +3.1%) shot higher on increasingly higher chip demand. Marijuana stocks, which had recently sprinted to downright giddy valuations, lost quite a bit of froth – Tilray (TLRY, -49.7%) and merger partner Aphria (APHA, -35.8%) were among the biggest decliners. Read more…..
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Frenzy over stock in the video game retailer GameStop, which has pitted major traders against small-time investors, has led to lawsuits and calls for an investigation after one firm blocked trades. NBC’s Anne Thompson reports for TODAY.
