What to watch today: Stocks to rise after Dow, S&P 500 had best month since November

What to watch today: Stocks to rise after Dow, S&P 500 had best month since November

The government this morning reported a higher-than-expected 719,000 new filings for unemployment benefits last week. The prior week was revised lower to 658,000 initial jobless claims, the lowest level in over a year. The Labor Department is set to issue its monthly employment report Friday despite the Good Friday closure of the stock market.* 10-year Treasury yield dips below 1.7% after of jobless claims data (CNBC)* Oil gains ground ahead of OPEC+ meeting on output policy (Reuters)

President Joe Biden is scheduled to hold his first Cabinet meeting Thursday. The timing comes a week after Biden's full Cabinet was confirmed and a day after the president released his long-awaited infrastructure package, which would spend roughly $2 trillion over eight years. An increase in the tax rate on U.S. companies to 28% would pay for the sprawling plan. (AP & CNBC)* Business world divided on whether to fight Biden corporate tax hike (CNBC)

Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) said Thursday their two-shot Covid vaccine is around 91% effective, citing updated trial data, which included people inoculated for up to six months. The vaccine was also 100% effective, among trial participants in South Africa, where a new variant is dominant. However, the number of