US STOCKS-Wall St rises on hopes worst for labor market is over

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* U.S. weekly jobless claims fall to 4.43 million
* House set to pass $484 bln more in coronavirus relief
* U.S. business activity hits fresh record lows
* Target slumps on margin squeeze
* Indexes up: Dow 0.74%, S&P 500 0.82%, Nasdaq 0.90%

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By Shreyashi Sanyal and C Nivedita
April 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street gained on Thursday as
jobless claims declined for the third straight week, raising
hopes the worst of the coronavirus pandemic's impact on the
labor market might be over, but a crash in business activity
dulled sentiment.
Data on Thursday showed 4.43 million Americans filed for
unemployment benefits in the week to April 18, down from a
revised 5.24 million in the previous week. The latest number was still high and took the total in the
past five weeks to a record 26 million as state-wide shutdowns
to contain the coronavirus sparked production halts and mass
staff furloughs.
"The decline in initial jobless claims is encouraging, but
the damage has already been done with the insured unemployment
rate surging to a record high in the (previous) week," said Paul
Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.
U.S. stock indexes have rallied this month on a raft of
global stimulus, but the benchmark S&P 500 remains more than 15%
below its record high as worsening economic indicators
foreshadow a deep global recession.
A survey showed U.S. business activity plumbed new record
lows in April, mirroring dire figures from Europe and Asia as
strict stay-at-home orders crushed production, supply chains and
consumer spending.
Still, the mood in early trading was risk-on with the only
decliners among the 11 S&P 500 sub-indexes being defensive
utilities .SPLRCU , real-estate .SPLRCR and consumer staples
.SPLRCS .
The CBOE volatility index .VIX has retreated from 12-year
peaks hit last month, but analysts warned of another selloff as
Corporate America issues worrying forecasts for the year.
"The worst is probably over in terms of the epidemic, but
with oil prices at these levels, there will be layoffs coming in
from the energy sector and that will offset the fact that states
are beginning to open up," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
The energy index .SPNY climbed 3% as oil prices recovered
in a tumultuous week that saw U.S. crude crashing below zero for
the first time in history.
Meanwhile, Congress was preparing nearly $500 billion more
in aid for small businesses and hospitals, which is expected to
clear the House of Representatives later in the day.
At 10:16 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 174.55 points, or 0.74%, at 23,650.37, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 22.97 points, or 0.82%, at 2,822.28 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 76.69 points, or 0.90%, at 8,572.07.
Analysts have sharply cut their S&P 500 profit expectations
for the first and second quarters, while companies launched
dramatic cost-cutting measures to ride out the economic slump.
Retailer Target Corp TGT.N reported a surge in digital
sales in March and April, which offset a slump in-store sales.
But its shares fell 3.1% as margins were hit by higher costs.
A 10.2% jump for Las Vegas Sands Corp LVS.N lifted U.S.
casino operators after the company predicted a speedy recovery
in Asia on pent-up gambling demand. Shares in Wynn Resorts WYNN.O , MGM Resorts MGM.N and
Melco Resorts MLCO.O gained between 3.7% and 8.5%.