(New York) The New York Stock Exchange indices started in the green on the penultimate session of the year on Thursday, on the verge of a record for the broader S index

Around 10:20 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones was up 0.19%, the tech-heavy NASDAQ was up 0.17%. THE

The day before, the Dow Jones had gained 0.30% to 37,656.52 points, the NASDAQ had advanced 0.16% to 15,099.18 points and the S

With just two sessions until the end of the year and in a low-volume market, the Dow Jones and S

The NASDAQ, featuring the “Magnificent Seven” – tech mega-caps like Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia – soared 44%. 2023 could be the best year since 2003 for the tech-heavy index.

The three indices are also on track to end a ninth straight week in positive territory.

“We have the impression that there is a magnetic force which attracts the S

In a week poor in economic data, weekly applications for unemployment benefits increased for the second week in a row.

They increased from 12,000 to 218,000, more than expected but without signaling a major impact on the unemployment rate.

“The main takeaway from the report is that it is not going to shake up the market perception that the labor market remains in good shape overall,” noted Patrick O’Hare.

“This means that the level of unemployment claims is not yet seen as a threat to the soft landing hypothesis,” he added.

The Labor Department will release official employment numbers for December on January 5.

In the bond market, where trading was light, the yield on 2-year bonds, which had fallen sharply on Wednesday, was up to 4.27% from 4.24%, and the yield on 10-year notes was also up to 3.82% from 3.79%.

On the value side, most of the “Magnificent Seven” carried the timid momentum of the market including Apple (0.70%), Tesla (1.04%), Meta (0.35%), Microsoft ( 0.32%) and Nvidia (0.32%). Amazon and Alphabet were down slightly (-0.12%).

Altice-USA, the subsidiary of Altice, a highly indebted French cable operator and telecommunications group, saw its shares soar 14% to $3.47.

Press information suggested an interest from French billionaire Xavier Niel (Iliad technology group) in the Portuguese subsidiary of Patrick Drahi’s group.

The securities listed on Wall Street of Chinese internet and online gaming giants NetEase rebounded (3.87% to $91) after suffering in recent sessions following new regulations issued by the authorities.

But this week, around a hundred video games were finally authorized for distribution and the authorities indicated that they would review the first version of their regulations. Tencent, another Chinese internet heavyweight, also gained ground (2.38% to $37.51).