Markets rise despite ho-hum reports

Stocks made gains in New York Thursday despite the release of economic data that was neutral or close to expectations. The European Union's statistical office Eurostat said inflation in the 17-nation eurozone on an annual basis came to 2.4 percent, in line with a previously released flash estimate. In Washington, the Department of Labor said first-time unemployment benefit claims rose by 2,000 to 366,000, not a large enough to jolt markets. In late morning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 32.71 points to 13,197.49, up 0.25 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index added 15.12 points to 3,046.05, up 0.5 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 gained 3.84 points to 1,409.37, up 0.27 percent. The benchmark 10-year treasury rose 1/32 to yield 1.816 percent. Against the euro, the dollar was $1.2356 from $1.2289 Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was 79.24 from 78.98 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed at 9,092.76, adding 167.72 points, or 1.88 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 index reached 5,833.92, a gain of 0.88 points or 0.02 percent.