Jobless-claims drop helps send Dow higher

NEW YORK - A small drop in unemployment claims and a higher profit forecast by FedEx Corp. helped push stocks to two-year highs Thursday.

The Labor 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 straight week, reaching the lowest level since July 2008. That was before Lehman Brothers collapsed and markets seized up at the height of the financial crisis.

Separately, the Commerce Department said housing starts rose slightly last month, reversing a two-month decline.

Shares of credit-card companies fell sharply after the Federal Reserve proposed a 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 to 2 percent of each transaction.

The proposal could cut revenues for major banks and card networks such as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. Visa fell 12.7 percent to $67.19. MasterCard fell 10.3 percent to $223.49.

FedEx rose 2 percent to $94.22 after the company raised its earnings predictions for next year because businesses and consumers are shipping more packages. Traders took that as a sign the economy is improving.

Shares of Oracle Corp. rose in after-hours trading after the software maker reported a 28 percent increase in profit. In regular trading, Oracle closed down 22 cents at $30.27.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 41.78, or 0.4 percent, to 11,499.25. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.64, or 0.6 percent, to 1,242.87. The Nasdaq composite rose 20.09, or 0.8, to 2,637.31.

Gains came across the market. All 10 company groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose.

Alcoa Inc. was the biggest gainer of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow index, rising 3.6 percent to $14.46. American Express Co. fell the most. The company lost 3.4 percent to $44.57.

A bill to extend Bush-era tax cuts along with unemployment benefits was postponed by the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon. The Senate passed the bill Wednesday. The tax package, a compromise between the White House and Senate Republicans, is expected to boost economic growth next year but also widen the budget deficit.

House Democratic leaders say they will pass the bill, but only after first voting whether to raise the proposed rate for the estate tax.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.42 percent from 3.53 percent the day before. Investors have been selling Treasurys as their outlook on the economy improves, sending yields on the bonds higher. The 10-year yield traded as low as 2.49 percent as recently as Nov. 4.

The dollar fell 0.2 percent against an index of six heavily traded currencies. Gold fell 1.1 percent.

Two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 4.4 billion shares.