• Dow Jones gains ground as equities climb.
• US Jobless Claims hit highest number since last August.
• Markets are pinning hopes on rate cuts from Fed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) found further gains on Thursday as investors bet on Fed rate cuts to come after US Initial Jobless Claims rose to a multi-month high. Federal Reserve (Fed) officials have been pushing down on rate cut expectations recently as Fedspeak talks down the chances of rate cuts without inflation making further progress to the Fed’s 2% target and signs of slack in the US job market.

US Initial Jobless Claims rose to 231K for the week ended May 3, hitting the highest week-on-week number of new jobless benefits seekers since last August. The previous week’s Initial Jobless Claims were also revised slightly higher to 209K from the initial print of 208K. Rising unemployment claims is helping rate-cut-hungry markets step up hopes that the Fed will get pushed towards the rate cut table sooner rather than later.

Dow Jones news

All but five of the individual securities that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average are in the green on Thursday, with Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) leading the charge higher. Caterpillar is up over 2% on the day, trading into $351.46 per share. Analysts have raised forecasts for the company’s stock, with expectations ranging from $380.00 to $435.00 per share as the company diversifies further into energy and mining markets.

On the low side, Salesforce Inc. (CRM) is down -1.6%, falling below $275.00 per share as traders reconsider their earlier bets on the cloud computing company. IBM follows hot on Salesforce’s heels, backsliding -1.0% on Thursday, falling to $166.40 per share.

Dow Jones technical outlook

The Dow Jones is up over 225 points on Thursday, climbing six-tenths of a percent as the major equity index grinds its way back to record highs approaching 40,000.00. The index found an early price floor near 38,950.00, and the DJIA is trading above 39,250.00.

The Dow Jones is on pace to close a sixth consecutive trading day in the green, climbing over 4% from the immediate bottom near 37,708.00. The index’s last swing low is priced in near 37,600.00, and the DJIA is up nearly 6.5% from the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 36,897.69