Wall Street Bounces Back on Positive U.S. Job Data

NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street bounced back on Thursday as U.S. job data came in beating expectation and hopes of an improved Europe debt situation lifted markets sentiment, with financial and energy leading the rise.

After a severe sell-off on Wednesday, investors started to come back to markets and pick up stocks at bargain prices in a cautious way on Thursday after the encouraging U.S. job data. The financial sector, which saw sharp fall one day before, bounced back with vengeance.

The U.S. Labor Department reported the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell 7,000 to 395,000 last week. It is the first time for the weekly data to dip below 400,000 in four months, giving sign of an improving job market and offering comfort to the anxious investors. The market confidence was further boosted by the news that leaders of Germany and France, the euro-zone biggest economies, will meet next week to talk about solution for European's financial problems. And there the reports that Swiss franc would peg to the euro. European financial sector rallied.

But the rumors about credit rating downgrade for France lingered. Market confidence remained fragile.

In a separated report, the U.S. Commerce Department said the U. S. trade deficit widened to 53.1 billion in June, the largest since October 2008. Both imports and exports declined as global demand slowed.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 423.37 points, or 3.95 percent, to 11,143.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 51.88 points, or 4.63 percent, to 1,172.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 111.63 points, or 4.69 percent, to 2,492.68.