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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A gauge of confidence among home builders remained at 60 in July, the strongest reading since late 2005, according to National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo data released Thursday. July’s reading matched the consensus forecast from MarketWatch-polled economists. “This month’s reading is in line with recent data showing stronger sales in both the new and existing home markets as well as continued job growth,” said David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist. “However, builders still face a number of challenges, including shortages of lots and labor.” NAHB previously estimated a June reading of 59. Readings above 50 signal that home-construction companies, generally, are optimistic about sales trends, and July marks the 13th consecutive month of above-50 readings.

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The euro edged higher against its rivals Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said he believed Greece would make an upcoming 3.5 billion euro ($3.8 billion) debt-service payment to the central bank. Draghi made the remark during a question-and-answer session with reporters following his July monetary policy statement. Earlier in the Q&A session, the shared currency fell to a seven-and-a-half year low against the British pound after Draghi revealed that the central bank had raised its emergency liquidity support for Greece by 900 million euros. The shared currency recently traded at $1.0897, from $1.0860 ahead of Draghi’s statement. It also traded at 69.86 pence, about even with its pre-statement level. Greece is currently in arrears to the International Monetary Fund after missing a 1.54 billion euro ($1.7 billion) payment on June 30. The central bank earlier voted to keep its benchmark policy rate at a record low 0.05%.

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The eurozone economic recovery is expected to continue in the months ahead, but may be hit by sluggish growth in emerging markets, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said at a news conference on Thursday. “The ongoing slowdown in emerging market economies continues to weigh on the global outlook and economic growth in the euro area is likely to continue to be dampened by the necessary balance sheet adjustments in a number of sectors and the sluggish pace of implementation of structural reforms,” he said. He cautioned, however, that the the adverse effect on growth has generally been contained by the central bank’s monetary-easing program, as well as low oil prices and a weak euro .

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Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to Greece’s request for a three-year bailout, after the Greek parliament on Thursday voted to approve tough reform measures needed to unlock further financial aid. “On the basis of a positive assessment by the institutions, which concluded that the authorities have implemented the first set of four measures in a timely and overall satisfactory manner … we reached today a decision to grant in principle a 3-year ESM stability support to Greece, subject to the completion of relevant national procedures,” the Eurogroup said in a statement Thursday. The reforms are part of a bailout deal agreed Monday by the eurozone and Athens, and must now be approved by parliaments in a handful of the currency union’s members. The Eurogroup decision means negotiations can now continue on the bailout under the ESM, or European Stability Mechanism, program. The bailout mechanism has so far only provided loans to Spain and Cyprus. Greece’s previous bailout program, which expired at the end of June, was partly granted through the temporary crisis mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility.

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European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday said policy makers decided to raise emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks. Draghi said “several positive things have happened” to allow the rise in the emergency lifeline and that the ECB is operating under the assumption that Greece will remain in the euro. Draghi said policy makers had decided to “substantially accommodate” Greece’s request for an increase in ELA, which was boosted by 900 million euros over one week.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits sank by 15,000 to 281,000 in the seven days ended July 11, erasing a big increase in the prior week that stemmed from retoolings at auto plants and other season quirks typical in midsummer. The latest report on initial claims offers further evidence that the labor market continues to heal, with layoffs in the economy hovering near a record low. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast initial claims to fall to 287,000 from a revised 296,000. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, edged up by 3,250 to seasonally adjusted 282,500, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Continuing jobless claims declined by 112,000 to 2.2 million in the week ended July 4. These claims reflect people already receiving unemployment checks.

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Google Inc. was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital Markets on Thursday, hours before the company’s scheduled second-quarter earnings release. Analyst Daniel Salmon said the upgrade isn’t a call on the company’s imminent quarterly results, and doesn’t represent a material change in view, but reflects increased confidence in upward estimate revisions in the coming quarters. BMO expects Google’s margins to stabilize in the second half of 2015 and fiscal-year 2016 as it improves search growth and video ads on YouTube. Shares of Google traded up 1% premarket to $589.95. They have risen 7.5% over the last three months, outperforming the S&P 500, which is up just 0.1% over the same period.

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EBay Inc. reported second-quarter net profit declined to $83 million, or 7 cents a share, from $676 million, or 53 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as results from discontinued operations, adjusted earnings per share came in at 76 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 72 cents. Revenue rose to $4.38 billion from $4.1 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $4.49 billion. Total payment volume grew 20% to $65.94 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $63.7 billion, while gross merchandise volume declined 2% to $20.06 billion. The e-commerce company said it added $1 billion to its stock repurchase program. EBay said it will separate its payment services business PayPal on July 17. For the full year, eBay expects standalone revenue to rise 3% to 5%, while PayPal Holdings revenue is projected to grow 15% to 18%. EBay’s stock climbed 1.4% in premarket trade. It has run up 11% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.1%.

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Domino’s Pizza Inc. beat analyst expectations Thursday for its second-quarter earnings. Domino’s reported a net income of $45.9 million, or 81 cents per share, above $38.5 million, or 67 cents per share in the year earlier period. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were 81 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 79 cents. Domino’s reported sales of $488.6 milion, above the FactSet consensus of $488 million.

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The European Central Bank, as expected, left interest rates unchanged on Thursday. The bank’s benchmark lending rate remains at 0.05%, while the deposit rate on funds parked at the institution was left unchanged at minus 0.2%. ECB President Mario Draghi’s news conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and is expected to be dominated by questions over Greece and what the ECB is willing to do to support the country’s banking sector as Athens await finalization of a third rescue package by its eurozone partners.

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