Wall Street Shrugs Off New Reports

Economy

Events far from Wall Street over shadowed economic reports as a catalyst for financial market activity this week.

Turmoil caused by concerns about economic vitality in Asia shaved more than 300 points off the Dow Jones industrial average in two days of volatile trading.

In economic reports this week:

The Commerce Department said the trade gap in goods and services rose to $10.358 billion in August - the widest since January - after rising in July to a revised $10.019 billion. Imports rose to a record, while exports rose at a slower pace. Meantime, the trade deficit with Japan narrowed, while that with China expanded to a record.

First-time jobless claims rose by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000 in the week ended Oct. 18, the second consecutive weekly rise, the Labor Department said. That’s the highest level since the week ended Aug. 30, when claims totaled 325,000. Analysts’ expected the number of new claims to hold steady at 306,000.