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A late rally on Wall Street pushed the market higher, disguising the broader trend that stocks traded close to the gain line for much of the day. It was a mixed day for economic data - the main driver for the market Thursday - with better than expected jobs data offsetting softer home sales, while the US dollar gained, hurting commodity and exporters in particular.

As the US dollar strengthens exporters suffer as US goods exported become more expensive on the international markets.

In jobs data, the number of people in the US filing new claims for unemployment fell to 469,000 last week from a revised 498,000 the previous week, beating expectations. Continuing claims also fell more than expected.

The Dow Jones rose 47.38 points, or 0.46%, to 10,444.14, the S&P 500 added 4.18 points, or 0.37%, to 1,122.97 and the NASDAQ picked up 11.63 points, or 0.51%, to 2,292.31.

Among the banks Citigroup shares tacked on 0.9%. CEO Vikram Pandit thanked taxpayers for the US$45 billion in aid the company received during the global financial crisis.

Many of the other major banks were trading less than 1% above the gain line, expect for Goldman Sachs, which jumped 3.7%.

Among tech stocks, Microsoft and Apple rose 0.6% and 0.7%.

Search engine rivals, Google and Yahoo! were up 1.7% and 1.5% respectively.

In other economic news, retail sales climbed 4% in February despite swathes of the country being stuck inside in snow storms at various times.

The country’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, was 0.7% stronger, although the gain would more likely be due to the company hiking its dividend by 11% rather than stronger sales.

Target and Sears were 2.4% and 2.3% stronger.

A 7.6% slump in home sales in January took the shine off the home building sector, with Pulte and KB Homes down 0.6% and 0.9% respectively.

One of the Dow’s major movers was Walt Disney, up 2.9%. Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its rating on the stock to "buy".

Broker upgrades to Coca-Cola and Boeing sent their shares 1% and 1.7% higher respectively.

NYMEX light crude oil for April delivery fell US59c to US$80.28 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil and Chevron both lost 0.1%.

COMEX gold for May delivery lost $11.30 to settle at $1,132.60 per ounce.

European Markets

It was an even split among Western European markets, with 9 advancing and 9 retreating, however many of the majors posted modest declines.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 lost 6.05, or 0.11% to 5,527.16. The French CAC40 gave up 14.11, or 0.37% to 3,828.41, while Germany’s DAX retreated 22.56, or 0.39% to 5,795.32.

UK stocks were largely mixed, with Barclays up 1% and HSBC down 0.9%. Royal Bank of Scotland surged 3.6%.

Deutsche Bank was 1.4% above the gain line.

Prudential put on 2.6%. The stock was heavily sold this week following its decision to purchase a division of AIG Limited.

French builder Vinci climbed 2.6% after beating estimates.

Meanwhile, Danish shipping line Maersk sank 3.9% after reporting a full-year net loss of nearly US$1.3 billion. It was the company’s first loss since World War 2.

Among the miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were down 1.1% and 1% respectively. The two miners have been matching each other’s gains and falls this week.

Anglo American was 1.1% lower, while Xstrata was 1.4% weaker.

Meanwhile, German healthcare company Celesio added 8.8%, on top of gains in its previous five trading sessions, on speculation it would be a takeover target.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei weakened for the first time in five sessions on forecasts of slower growth in new lending. Exporters struggled as the yen strengthened.

The Nikkei 225 lost 107.42, or 1.05% to 10,145.72.

Heavyweight financials Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial slid 1% and 0.4%. Trading company Mitsui & Co fell 2%.

Earthmoving equipment makers Komatsu and Hitachi Construction shed 1.5% and 1.4% after the Finance Ministry said capital spending by Japanese fell for the 11th consecutive quarter year-on-year in the fourth quarter.

Yamaha dropped 2.2%.

Sony and Canon slid 1.1% as the yen closed in on a three-month high against the greenback. 

Mitsubishi Motors slumped 11% after talks related to Peugeot buying a stake in the company were abandoned.

Toyota and Nissan shed 1.3% and 1.1%.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hang Seng retreated Thursday, extending losses in what has been a bad week for the index. The banks were heavily sold in particular, however losses were widespread with two-thirds of stocks below the gain line.

The Hang Seng gave up 301.01, or 1.44% to 20,575.78.

Bank of China slumped 3.5%, while ICBC retreated 2.5%. HSBC was 0.5% weaker.

China Mobile shed 2.4% after suggesting it would invest in a bank, taking the company away from its core business.

Clothes maker Li & Fung increased 1.7% on better jobs news out of the US.

Jiangxi Copper Company, a litmus test for the broader commodity market, slumped 2.3%.

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