NEW YORK - Encouraging news on the US job market pushed stocks higher on Wall Street, sending the market toward some big milestones. The Dow Jones industrial average rose back near 16,000 points and the Standard & Poor's 500 index was just below 1,800 points. Both indexes crossed those levels for the first time on Monday, but have yet to close above them. With an hour left to trade, the Down Jones average was up 103 points at 16,003 points. The S&P 500 index was up 14 points at 1,796 and the Nasdaq was up 47 points at 3,968 points. First-time applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 21,000 last week, the Labor Department reported, the latest sign that the US job market is recovering. The number of applications, which is a proxy for how many workers are being laid off, is now near where it was before the Great Recession. General Motors rose after the US government said it expects to sell its remaining stake in the company by the end of the year. LONDON - European shares remained steady after the Federal Reserve said it was considering tapering its stimulus in the coming months, while the mining sector was hit by poor global manufacturing data. News that first time claims for US unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level in two months failed to give direction with mixed data from the eurozone counter-weighting sentiment. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed virtually unchanged at 6,681.33 points, the CAC 40 in Paris slid 0.34 per cent to 4,253.9 points, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 edged down 0.07 per cent to 9,196.08 points. HONG KONG - Asian shares slipped after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed it was considering winding down its stimulus "in coming months." But Tokyo rallied as the comments sent the dollar surging against the yen. The regional decline followed losses on Wall Street as another batch of data provided evidence of an uptick in the US economy, fuelling fears the Fed's bond-buying could be nearing its end. Tokyo climbed 1.92 per cent, or 289.52 points, to 15,365.60 as the dollar advanced against the yen, hitting a four-month high at one point. Seoul fell 1.16 per cent, or 23.46 points, to 1,993.78. Shanghai closed flat, dipping 0.48 points to 2,205.77 after a late rally, while Hong Kong lost 0.51 per cent, or 120.57 points, to end at 23,580.29. WELLINGTON - New Zealand shares fell, joining a selloff across much of Asia, on speculation the US Federal Reserve will wind down its stimulus of the world's biggest economy. Michael Hill International led retailers lower and Air New Zealand extended its post-selldown slide. The NZX 50 Index fell 22 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 4818.37 on Thursday.