New York (AFP)

Wall Street ended in green on Thursday despite the still very high number of unemployment benefit claims in the United States last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, its star index, gained 0.89% to 23,875.89 points.

The Nasdaq appreciated by 1.41% to 8,979.66 points. The highly technological index, at its highest level since early March, is now positive for the whole year.

The broader S&P 500 Index, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, gained 1.15% to 2,881.19 points.

"Investors anticipate a reopening of the economy and project beyond the Covid-19," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investment.

In this regard, the more than three million new applications for unemployment benefit last week in the United States, according to the Labor Department, did not shake the New York place Thursday.

These figures are explained by the brutal shutdown of the economy in mid-March with the implementation of massive containment measures in the country to stem the coronavirus.

If unemployment remains at an exceptionally high level, the number of new registrations has been decreasing every week since the beginning of April.

The unemployment rate for April will be released on Friday, and will no doubt reach a historically high level, 20% according to some specialists.

Donald Trump appeared to echo optimistic forecasts from market participants on Thursday, saying he expects next year to be "phenomenal."

"This country cannot remain closed and confined for years," the US president told reporters.

Among the other indicators published on Thursday, productivity in the United States fell sharply in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the last quarter of 2019, reflecting the cessation of activity that occurred suddenly in mid-March to stem the coronavirus pandemic , according to preliminary estimates published by the Labor Department.

China announced a surprise rebound in exports in April despite the coronavirus pandemic. Imports have collapsed, however.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on American debt was down slightly, standing at 0.6314% against 0.7030% on Wednesday evening.

© 2020 AFP