Most of the fears hurting stock prices faded Thursday as global economic data improved enough to put recessionary fears to rest for now. China’s PMI rose to 50.4 vs 50.2 expected; German Manufacturing rose to 51.9 vs 49.9 expected; Eurozone PMI 50.7 vs 49.9 expected & prior 49.9; U.S. PMI Mfg Index Flash fell 56.2 vs 57 expected & prior 57.9; FHFA House Price Index 0.5% vs 0.3% expected & prior 0.2%; and, Jobless Claims rose to 283K vs 285K expected & prior 266K.
The Dow, for example was up nearly 300 points when news broke of another Ebola victim being rushed to a hospital in NYC. Immediately the Dow surrendered roughly 80 points which shows how unstable conditions can become. After the close, earnings from Amazon (AMZN)