Stocks mixed, yields rise ahead of US jobs report; defense shares gain
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NEW YORK, Jan 8 : Major stock indexes were mixed and Treasury yields rose on Thursday ahead of Friday's key U.S. jobs report, while defense company shares gained amid U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for a $1.5 trillion military budget.
An aerospace and defense index rose to an all-time high, with European defense shares also hitting a new high. Oil prices also climbed as investors monitored developments in Venezuela.
Over the weekend, U.S. military forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The White House said on Tuesday that Trump was also discussing options for acquiring Greenland.
"The defense budget is growing, if anything. Sure you're getting a little bit more pressure from the administration to do things a certain way, but investors don't seem to care about at this point," said Joe Saluzzi, partner and co-founder at Themis Trading.
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Data showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose moderately last week, suggesting that layoffs were relatively low at the end of 2025, though demand for labor remained sluggish.
Traders are pricing in at least two rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, although a divided central bank indicated in December there would be only one cut in 2026. The Fed is expected to keep rates steady at its meeting this month.
Friday's U.S. employment report for December will be key.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 270.03 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 49,266.11, the S&P 500 rose 0.53 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 6,921.46 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 104.26 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 23,480.02.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 2.22 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 1,029.26. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.19 per cent.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.18 per cent to 98.90.
The euro flirted with its eighth straight drop against the dollar.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 4.5 basis points to 4.183 per cent, from 4.138 per cent late on Wednesday.
Venezuela's default-stricken bonds were finally cooling off following their near 40 per cent surge after the weekend's events fuelled investor hopes for a massively complex debt restructuring.
U.S. crude rose 1.8 per cent to $57.00 a barrel and Brent rose to $61.13 per barrel, up 1.95 per cent on the day. Gold prices were nearly flat.
Oil prices climbed after two straight days of declines, settling at a two-week high.
Brent futures rose $2.03, or 3.4 per cent, to settle at $61.99 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.77, or 3.2 per cent, to settle at $57.76.
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