Steady Jobless Claims, Good Philly Fed, Healthy Q4 Earnings

Economic Indicators - Initial Jobless Claims for last week were reported at 219K, slightly above the expected 215K, and up from the revised 214K from the previous week, marking the third week in the last four below 220K [3] - Continuing Claims remained steady at 1.869 million, which is above the sub-1.8 million level from a year ago, and has been below 1.9 million for four consecutive weeks [4] Manufacturing Sector - The Philly Fed manufacturing index for February came in at +18.1, exceeding expectations of +13.2, and follows a strong previous month of +44.3, indicating robust economic activity [5] Company Earnings - Walmart (WMT) reported a significant earnings miss for Q4, posting -$0.02 per share compared to projections of +$0.25, although revenues exceeded estimates by 1.73% at $3.12 billion, leading to an 8.5% increase in pre-market trading [6]