Investors were satisfied to finally see an official announcement of Spain's concrete efforts to progress with indispensable budget cuts, no matter how painful these cuts may be.
Spain has gone through a rough week, as yields on 10-year Spanish bonds spiked over 6% for the first time this month. Investors are still eyeing Spain carefully, as the nation may seek bailout.
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi announced his bond-buying plan earlier this month, a permanent financial bailout fund expected to have €500 billion authorized capital intended for debt-ridden Eurozone nations. However, nations seeking out ECB aid are obliged to agree to certain reforms and oversight to the bailout funds.
On the domestic side, investors also got a series of disappointing U.S data which indicated lagging economic growth, particularly with a declining second-quarter GDP report.
Durable goods orders and pending home sales also indicated more slowdown for the U.S. economy, as August's durable goods orders slumped more than expected. Pending home sales dropped by 2.6%, and given the expected 0.5% increase, the figure turned out to be a slap in the face.
All in all, out of all U.S economic data released on Thursday, the only positive news received was a drop in jobless claims, initially predicted at 378K, but turned out with a surprising drop down to 359K.
After a rather difficult week, all three major U.S indices managed to pick up and close in positive territory: the S&P 500 closed Thursday's trade with a 0.96% gain from 1,433.32 to 1,447.15; the Dow posted a 0.54% gain, from 13,413.51 to 13,485.97. Nasdaq climbed 0.86%, rising from 3,093.70 to 3,136.60.
Across the Atlantic, European stocks finished with mild gains on Thursday: Germany's DAX closed flat with a 0.03% gain, France's CAC 40 gained 0.36%, and Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.20%. Across the Pacific, Asian markets rose on Thursday as well: the Shanghai Composite surged 2.47%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.02%, and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.48%.
