NEW YORK — Investors shifted their attention from Europe to the U.S. on Thursday, pushing stocks slightly higher on good jobs and manufacturing reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.33 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,868.81. The Dow had lost 360 points over the previous three days on worries that Europe’s latest plan to keep its currency union intact would fail.
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Bank, said the break from selling meant that investors are starting to focus on signs of strength in the U.S. economy.
“We’re not completely insulated (from Europe), but trouble there doesn’t necessary spell problems for us,” he said.
Before the market opened, the government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped sharply last week to 366,000, the lowest level since May 2008. That’s a sign that layoffs are easing, a first step toward bringing down the unemployment rate, which currently stands at 8.6 percent.
Investors also were encouraged by a report from the Federal Reserve of New York that its index measuring regional manufacturing jumped to the highest level since May. That was far more than economists were expecting. A similar report from the Philadelphia branch of the Fed also increased faster than analysts anticipated.
“The base of the economy is getting stronger,” said Steven Malin, an associate at money manager Aronson Johnson Ortiz.
FedEx reported that its quarterly income nearly doubled on strong growth in online shopping during the holiday season. Its stock jumped 8 percent.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 3.93 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,215.75. The gains were broad. All but two of the 10 industry groups in the index rose. The two groups — technology and energy — edged down less than 0.3 percent each.
The top gains came from utilities and health care. The profits of those companies are less likely to crumble in an economic slowdown. That suggests that investors, though encouraged by the good news, were still playing it safe.
“There’s a defensive tone to the market,” said Jeff Schwarte, a portfolio manager at Principal Global Investors. “Investors still aren’t sure about the economy.”
The Nasdaq composite rose 1.70 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 2,541.01.
