Market update: Wall Street gains on positive employment market data – 26.04.2013

Overnight, Wall Street closed higher (S&P 500 +0.4%, Dow Jones +0.2%) after investors warmed to positive employment market data that showed first-time initial jobless claims dropped more than expected. Shares in JC Penney gained 7.0% in after-hours trading on news that George Soros’s hedge fund, Soros Fund Management, had built up a 7.9% stake in the business. Elsewhere, Safeway slumped 14% after the grocer missed revenue expectations.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 and the FTSE Eurofirst 300 have opened lower this morning, losing 0.3% and 0.5% respectively. Shares in Standard Life slipped 1.7% on news that the insurer’s chief financial officer was leaving to join its rival, Prudential. Meanwhile, support services provider Capita rose 1.5% after announcing a new joint venture with the government.