End of the Day: S&P 500 up 5.9 to 1,992.37; Dow Jones up 60.4 to 17,039.49; Nasdaq up 5.6 to 4,532.10
* In the week ending August 16th, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 298,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised level. (The Street was looking for a reading of 303,000.) The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 311,000 to 312,000. The 4-week moving average was 300,750, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s