The S&P 500 added 0.6 percent after flipping between small gains and losses following a government report that 5.2 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. The report was universally regarded as awful, and it brought the total for the last month to roughly 22 million. But markets had braced for a number that was even more awful, which helped limit losses for stocks. The day’s move for the S&P 500 was one of its mildest since the coronavirus outbreak began knocking stocks lower two months ago. The S&P 500 won 16.19 points at 2,799.55.

Source: The Standard April 17, 2020 02:03 UTC