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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/jobless-claims-dip-boosts-us-stocks.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="The Dow Jones industrial average closed on Thursday up 41.78 at 11,499.25" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-jobless-claims-dip-boosts-us-stocks.jpg" alt="The Dow Jones industrial average closed on Thursday up 41.78 at 11,499.25"/></a></p>
<p>A small drop in unemployment claims and a higher profit forecast by FedEx helped push US stocks up and saw the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard&#038;Poor&#8217;s 500 index close at their highest levels of the year.</p>
<p>The Labour Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to 420,000, the third drop in four weeks. The four-week average of claims also slid for the sixth week in a row, reaching the lowest level since July 2008. That was before Lehman Brothers collapsed and markets seized up at the height of the financial crisis.</p>
<p>Separately, the US Commerce Department said housing starts rose slightly last month, reversing a two-month decline.</p>
<p>Card companies fell sharply after the Federal Reserve proposed as 12-cent cap on the fees that merchants pay every time a customer uses a debit card. Merchants now pay a fee that ranges between 1-2% of each transaction.</p>
<p>The proposal could cut revenues for major banks and card networks like Visa and MasterCard. Visa fell 12.7% to 67.19 US dollars (£42.98). MasterCard fell 10.3% to 223.49 US dollars (£142.96)</p>
<p>FedEx rose 1.9% to 94.22 US dollars (£60.27) after the company raised its earnings predictions for next year because businesses and consumers are shipping more packages. Traders took that as a sign that the economy is improving.</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 41.78, or 0.4%, to end Thursday on 11,499.25. The broader Standard&#038;Poor&#8217;s 500 index rose 7.64, or 0.6%, to 1,242.87. The Nasdaq composite rose 20.09, or 0.8%, to 2,637.31.</p>
<p>Gains came across the market, and all 10 company groups in the Standard and Poor&#8217;s 500 index rose.</p>
<p>Alcoa was the biggest gainer of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow index, rising 3.5% to 14.45 US dollars (£9.24). American Express fell the most, losing 3.4% to 44.57 US dollars (£28.51)</p>
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