Overnight Markets: Strong earnings reports and jobless data boost Wall Street

Wall Street inched higher on Thursday as stronger earnings reports from eBay to McDonald’s and a decline in jobless claims helped compensate a plunge in financials amid concern banks may incur more losses from bad mortgages.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 39 points, or 0.35%, to 11,147. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained two points, or 0.18%, to 1,180. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained two points, or 0.09%, to 2,460.

U.S. Labour Department yesterday revealed that initial jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 452,000 in the week ended 15 October setting optimism among investors.

Stocks gathered more strength after several companies unveiled better-than-expected earnings report. eBay rallied 6% after forecasting higher-than-estimated sales and earnings. McDonald’s gained 1.3% after posting a 10% gain in third-quarter profit.

Netflix surged 13% after projecting fourth-quarter profit of as much as 74 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 70 cents. 

On the other hand, financials moved lower led by Bank of America, which slid 3.3%, amid concerns flawed foreclosure procedures could worsen the earnings outlook for the industry.

Among commodity-linked stocks, Occidental Petroleum fell 2.7% as oil dropped more than 2% to under $81 per barrel.

In current trading, Asian stocks were trading higher on Friday after stronger corporate earnings and a a drop in jobless claims bolstered confidence in a global economic recovery. 

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% to 130 as of 9:55 a.m. in Tokyo. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.5% and South Korea’s Kospi Index gained 1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.4%, as did New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index. Shanghai Composite Index was trading 0.6% lower at 2,967.