Markets on Wall Street jumped surprisingly high during afternoon trading yesterday. After struggling for nearly two weeks with downward momentum the big three indices had by far their best performance of the last month. The NASDAQ (3.13 percent, 65.59 points) and S&P 500 (3.13 percent, 32.21 points) led the way, followed closely by a 2.82 percent (274.66 points) jump by the Dow Jones.

The surge yesterday was enough to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 10,000-point threshold at the closing bell, but the outlook for today does not seem to have such great gains in store. After struggling a bit at the opening bell stocks have forged ahead on Wall Street. They aren’t likely to recreate yesterday’s boom, but gains should be strong unless investors get cold feet.

Finance is riding high right now after a major Wednesday push, but the rest of the economy is still on rough seas. According to CNNMoney.com, the International Monetary Fund sees growing risks for a global recovery in the months ahead.

Even though the IMF lifted its global growth forecast from 4.2 percent to 4.6 percent for 2010, its 2011 figures stayed the same at 4.3. This is a sign that the IMF sees the 2010 recovery cooling next year. Much of the 2010 run is due to expansion in Asia, and the 2011 figures largely account for continued strength in countries like Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, and India. However, the United States and Europe, with their over-reliance on finance, will hold back the global average.

According to MarketWatch, the ongoing financial turbulence in Europe and the U.S. will not be enough to sink the rest of the global recovery, but it will be enough to dampen it.

In other news, according to Bloomberg, new jobless claims in the U.S. declined unexpectedly during the week ended July 3. Initial claims decreased by 21,000 to 454,000, according to Labor Department figures.

Some economists believe that this shows the employment market slowly moving in the “right direction.” Unfortunately the private economy has been left on its own to self-correct in response to this crisis, meaning that move in the right direction is far slower than most Americans can perceive.

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