On Thursday the Dow was up almost three percent to 10,172. Foreign reports boosted markets as Australia had stronger than expected employment figures, New Zealand raised interest rates, Japan’s economy grew 1.2% in the first quarter, and the European Central Bank boosted its expectations for the European growth this year. China also boasted a $19.5 billion trade surplus in May. Although some remain confident that an economic slowdown for China is inevitable, at present, numbers don’t lie.

Here, weekly unemployment benefit rolls fell by more than a quarter of a million to about 4.5 million, the lowest since December of 2008. While this number is continuing to improve, it is ever so slight. Unemployment is one of the most crucial aspects to an economy because it indicates general consumer confidence and the overall rate remains above 9%.

Ben Bernanke said that if markets hold, the U.S can expect 3.5% growth this year.

BP’s stock increased more than 10% yesterday, amid rising tensions between Britons and the American government, which were muted by the leaders of both nations. BP remains an important asset to the British economy, last year paying $1.4 billion in taxes.  With a revised estimate of the oil leaking daily from 20,000 to 40,000 barrels, the U.S. government requested that BP pay the salaries of U.S. workers idled from the embargo on deepwater drilling. BP may have to cut dividends this quarter.