Market Recap: Markets Buoyed by Apple Feeding Frenzy, Strengthening Job Market

Markets closed up on Wall Street today:

▲ Dow +0.12 percent

▲ S&P +0.60 percent

▲ Nasdaq +0.51 percent

▼ Oil -0.02 percent

▲ Gold +0.89 percent

On the commodities front:

▼ Oil (NYSE:USO) fell to $105.41 a barrel

Precious metals:

▲ Gold (NYSE:GLD) rose to $1,657.60 an ounce

▲ Silver (NYSE:SLV) rose 0.77 percent to settle at $32.43

(Related: IMF Rubber Stamps Greek Aid Package)

Today’s markets were up because:

1) Jobs: Initial jobless claims fell to a four-year low last week, according to the Labor Department, helping push the S&P 500 to a four-year high. The index topped 1,400 for the first time since 2008 after initial jobless claims fell back down to their lowest level since the recession.

2) Banks:Financials have been in focus this week following the results of the Federal Reserve’s latest stress tests, which the majority of the nation’s largest banks passed, meaning they would be able to weather another deep depression.

Bank of America and JPMorgan have been a couple of the best-performing stocks on the Dow today, but even Citigroup and Metlife were trading higher today, despite a poor performance on the stress test.

3) Stocks: The Apple feeding frenzy continued as shares topped $600 when markets opened this morning. Cisco shares slipped after the company announced its $5 billion bid to buy NDS Group, which is privately held by News Corp and Permira. Scholastic shares surged after the company reported revenue of $468 million fueled by strong sales of the "Hunger Games" book series ahead of the film adaptation’s release next week.

[Editor’s note: the above is from a cross post that originally appeared on Wall St. Cheat Sheet.]