NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market experienced moderate trading on favorable economic news Thursday, lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the 10,000 level for the first time since mid-January.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average, which jumped 125.93 points Wednesday, closed ahead 11.77 points to 10,001.44. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 15.37 points to 1843.79.
The broader New York Stock Exchange composite index finished lower 0.43 to 575.06 as did the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which dipped 2.03 to 1,116.48.
The American Stock Exchange composite index was down 1.14 to 846.82 while the Russell 2000 Index fell by 5.54 points to 470.79.
The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index was also down 25.06 to 10,429.38.
Big Board volume showed that 1.4 billion shares changed hands compared with 1.6 billion shares on the Nasdaq.
Analysts said certain stocks pushed higher, lifting the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average above the key 10,000 level for the first time since Jan. 11.
Experts said these stocks were supported by some encouraging signs on the nation's economy and helped calm some of the concerns over the reliability of corporate financial statements.
On the economic front, the Labor Department said the number of U.S. workers filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits fell for the second week in a row last week, suggesting the country's jobs market is improving as the economy recovers.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims declined by 8,000 to 373,000 in the week that ended Feb. 9. The four-week average of claims fell by 5,500 to a six-month low of 376,000 as a result. The decline in claims was steeper than the 4,000 decline Wall Street had been expecting.
The U.S. economy, which slipped into its first recession in a decade last March, recently has shown steady signs of improvement. It grew a surprising 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter and is expected to pick up steam over the remainder of this year. The unemployment rate fell by two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.6 percent in January.
The Federal Reserve halted its yearlong campaign of interest-rate cuts last month. Investors believe the central bank will hold interest rates low at least until the summer, before beginning to raise interest rates gradually.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said U.S. businesses continued to reduce inventories in December but at a slower pace than recent months.
U.S. business inventories fell 0.4 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted level of $1.13 trillion. The decline followed a drop of 1.2 percent in November. The inventory drop was a bit smaller than analysts had expected. Wall Street economists were expecting inventories to decline by 0.6 percent.
Businesses have cut inventories for 11 consecutive months. When the economy began to slow toward the end of 2000, inventories of unsold goods grew. Since then businesses have cut production, laid off workers and deeply discounted their merchandise to bring inventories in line with sales.
Many economists believe that businesses may begin building inventories in the first quarter in anticipation of U.S. economic growth improving later this year.
The inventory decline in the fourth quarter was a major drag on overall economic growth, subtracting 2.23 percentage points from the gross domestic product.
Meanwhile, analysts noted the Enron scandal is expected to garner a share of investors' attention.
Sherron Watkins -- the Enron executive who warned Chief Executive Kenneth Lay in August that the energy concern could collapse from an accounting scandal -- was to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigations panel later in the session.
Meanwhile, the 10-year bond added 9/32 to 99 13/32. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, eased to 4.95 percent from 4.99 percent Wednesday.
In Europe, stock prices ended higher in moderate trading in London, Frankfurt and Paris, supported by strength in the banking sector. The London International Stock Exchange's blue-chip FTSE-100 index gained 47.3 points, or 0.92 percent, to 5,201.2. The German DAX index rose 38.42 points, or 0.78 percent, to 4,973.77 and the French CAC-40 index gained 64.86 points, or 1.49 percent, to 4,429.31.
Analysts said European stocks were lifted by a string of mainly positive results, strength in banks, computer, and insurance sectors.
Earlier in Asia, prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended higher for the fifth consecutive session, lifted by solid earnings reports from American firms and growing hopes for government anti-deflation steps. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selective issues, which gained 90.26 points Wednesday, rose another 112.74 points, or 1.10 percent, to 10,081.09, regaining the 10,000 level for the first time since Jan. 26. The index has risen 7.0 percent in the last five sessions.
Analysts said stocks extended their winning streak to a fifth session as hopes grew for a government-backed economic policy aimed at combating deflation and the mountain of banks' non-performing loans weighing on the economy.
Analysts noted that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his ministers have been vocal this week concerning upcoming anti-deflation measures, and steps to tackle write-off problems, creating strong expectations as well as upward momentum in the market.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Taro Aso said in the afternoon there was an "extremely high" possibility the government will inject more public funds into distressed Japanese banks, but the market reaction was muted.
Aso criticized Japanese bankers for lacking a sense of urgency on their massive bad loan problem, but added that the government shouldn't waver if the need arises to bolster banks' capital in the next few months.
Elsewhere in Asia, prices on the South Korean Stock Exchange ended higher as investors heavily bought blue chips following a rise in U.S. stocks earlier this week. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, rose 56.52 points, or 7.64 percent, to 796.18. It was the index's highest close in nearly 19 months.
The South Korean market reopened Thursday after being closed for three days for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Elsewhere in the Pacific region, prices on the Australian Stock Exchange ended higher, but settled below its best levels as support for key mining and bank stocks offset another slump in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The blue-chip All Ordinaries Index rose 9.40 points, or 0.28 percent, to 3,423.80.
Elsewhere, markets in Taiwan and Hong Kong remained closed Thursday for the Lunar New Year holiday.
