Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended December 24. The report showed that jobless claims rose slightly less than economists had expected.

The Labor Dept. said that jobless claims rose to 322,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 319,000. Economists had been expecting claims to rise to 325,000 compared to the 318,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The report also showed that the less volatile four-week moving average edged up to 325,000 from the previous week's revised average of 324,750. Additionally, continuing claims rose to 2.715 million in the week ended December 17 from the preceding week's revised level of 2.630 million.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks rallied on Thursday with the Nikkei in the lead, up 0.9%, hitting a multi-year high of 16,344.20 on hectic buying in expectations of strong corporate profit and robust economic growth across the region next year. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8%, Shanghai Composite surged 1.1%, and Taipei’s Weighted index advanced 0.8%. Hong Kong was the sole decliner, down 0.4%.

European stocks closed higher, supported by resource stocks and gains from the leading German insurers Allianz and Munich Re which posted detailed earnings outlooks. The German DAX 30 gained 0.2%, the French CAC 40 rose 0.3%, and London’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.3%, hitting a fresh four-year high.

OIL, METALS, CURRENCIES

Crude oil prices rose above $60 a barrel after oil inventory report showed an increase in oil inventories but a decline in gasoline and distillate fuels stockpiles. Light sweet crude for February delivery gained 38 cents to $60.15 a barrel on the Nymex. Gasoline rose 5 cents to $1.64 a gallon and heating oil edged up to $1.7025. Natural gas declined 2 cents to $11.66 per 1,000 cubic feet.

European gold prices neared a two-week high on speculations that the central banks may buy more of the precious metal to diversify their reserve. In London gold rose to $517 per troy ounce, up from $515.20. In Zurich the precious metal advanced to $517.03 from $515.75. In Hong Kong gold gained $8.05 to close at $516.90. Silver traded unchanged at $8.59.

The U.S. dollar steadied against its major counterparts ahead of economic data. The euro was quoted at $1.1845, up from $1.1836. The dollar bought 117.90 yen, up from 117.83. The British pound traded at $1.7199, up from $1.7160.

EARNINGS NEWS

Luby's Inc.(LUB: chart), cafeteria-style restaurants operator, posted a Q1 profit of 8 cents a share, up from a loss of 5 cents a share a year earlier, beating analyst estimate of 3 cents a share. Sales advanced 6.9% in Q1, compared with the same time last year, with same-store sales advancing 6.9% in the quarter. The company announced that its sales in Q1 were hurt by Hurricane Rita, which resulted in a loss of about 236 store days of operations.

CORPORATE NEWS

Hilton Hotels (HLT: chart) confirmed that it reached a deal to acquire Hilton Group for about $5.71 billion. The hotel operator said the purchase price equates to a multiple of 11.3 times pro forma 2006 adjusted EBITDA. The deal is likely to close in the first quarter of 2006. The company stated that Hilton Group will retain its gambling and betting business and will likely change its name to Ladbrokes plc.

InterDigital Communications Corp. said late Wednesday that a federal judge confirmed an award rendered by a tribunal against mobile phone making giant Nokia Corp. for between $232 million and $252 million.