U.S. stocks rise after higher jobless claims calm rate fears

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were rising after jobless claims data came in higher than expected.

At 11:23 ET (16:23 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 71 points or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.4%.

The rise in jobless claims helped ease fears about the Federal Reserve and interest rates. Initial claims rose to a 10-week high last week to 211,000.

But the big data report comes Friday, with the release of the jobs report for February. Analysts expect that the economy added 205,000 jobs in the month, but they are also waiting to see if the red-hot January number gets revised.

This week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Congress the central bank was prepared to accelerate the pace of rate hikes in order to tame inflation. But he said Wednesday their minds are not made up yet, as they await the jobs data and new reports on inflation due next week.

Futures traders have raised bets that the Fed will raise rates by a half of a percentage point later this month, up from February’s quarter-point increase.

The 2-year Treasury, a signal about expectations for the Fed’s benchmark rate, has inched up to 5% this week, where it hasn’t been since 2007.

Silvergate Capital Corp (NYSE:SI) was down 29% after the crypto-friendly firm said it was winding down its bank.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) shares rose 4.1% after the warehouse retailer reported better than expected adjusted earnings.

Oil rose. Crude Oil WTI Futures were up 0.8% to $77.32 a barrel and Brent Oil Futures were up 0.7% to $83.28 a barrel. Gold Futures were up 0.7% to $1,831.