November 21, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened higher Thursday morning following a better-than-expected report on new claims for jobless benefits. Fed chair-designate Janet Yellen’s appointment has passed out of a Senate committee and is headed for a confirmation vote by the full Senate sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday. Yellen’s all-but-certain confirmation may have played a bigger role in the stronger equity indexes than did the employment report.

European, Asian, and Latin American markets all closed mixed again today.

Friday’s calendar includes speeches by Kansas Cit Fed President Elizabeth George and Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo and the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

• 10:00 a.m. – Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
• 10:00 a.m. – E-commerce retail sales
• 11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index

Here are the closing bell levels for Thursday:

• S&P500 1795.85 (+14.48; +0.81%)
• DJIA 16009.99 (+109.17; +0.69%)
• NASDAQ 3969.15 (+47.88; +1.22%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.792% (+0.125)
• Gold $1,243.60 (-14.40; -1.1%)
• WTI Crude oil $95.44 +1.59; +1.7%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3482 (+0.0042; +0.31%)

Big Earnings Movers: Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is down 3.5% at $64.19. Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is down 2.9% at $59.93 on a wider loss and tepid outlook. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up 14.1% at $70.57 indicating that investors liked the results posted after markets closed on Wednesday. Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is down 4.5% at $56.28. Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. (NYSE: ANF) is down 0.1% at $34.97.

Stocks on the Move: Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) is up 8.2% at $7.95 even though the firm’s service was ranked last in new Consumer Reports survey. Voxeljet AG (NYSE: VJET) is down 13.8% at $33.82, the third day in a row the stock has been hit with double-digit losses. Organovo Holdings In. (NASDAQ: ONVO) is up 11.5% at $8.86 after getting beaten up in the 3D printing debacle yesterday.

In all, 148 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 71 stocks posted new lows.

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