Morning Report: US sharemarkets lifted on Thursday

Claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a one-year low and US President Joe Biden announced a new goal of administering 200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office. Plans to resume the delivery of its 787 Dreamliners boosted Boeing (+3.3%) shares. Darden Restaurants shares jumped 8.2% after it announced a share buyback plan. Tesla (+1.6%) and Apple (+0.4%) shares lifted. But shares of Nike fell 3.4% on concerns it risked a boycott in China. The Dow Jones index rose by 199 points or 0.6% after being down 348 points. The S&P 500 index lifted 0.5% and the Nasdaq index gained 16 points or 0.1%.