Green Territory

Indices closed well into green territory on Thursday. Hewlett-Packard, Alcoa, Bank of America and Boeing led the pace for moves on the Dow. Stocks rallied on a variety of economic news. The Labor Department reported that March producer prices were unchanged. The result was much lower than expected, following a 0.4% jump in February. The core price index, which discounts food and energy, increased by a greater than expected 0.3% in March compared with a gain of 0.2% in February. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 380,000 last week. On another note, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit dipped to $46.03 billion in February, down from $52.52 billion in January. Elsewhere, crude oil futures tacked on 94 cents to settle at $103.64 a barrel.

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