U.S. stocks finished higher on Thursday, after all three major indexes fell for six consecutive days, with banks, utilities, and energy shares leading the advance. In World Markets, European stocks ended higher, led by the DAX in Germany rising 1.3 percent. Asian markets ended mixed, as the Shanghai Composite fell 1.7 percent and the Nikkei in Japan rose 0.2 percent. In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released its weekly initial jobless claims data, showing that 427,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week. Economists had forecast claims dropping to 415,000 from 422,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 6.7 percent in April to $43.7 billion, the lowest level since December, the Commerce Department reported. Exports of U.S. goods and services rose 1.3 percent to a record $175.6 billion. Imports fell by 0.4 percent to $219.2 billion as imports from Japan fell by 25.5 percent. --More
