WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher in morning trading on Thursday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the upside, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq is outperforming its counterparts.
Currently, the major averages remain firmly in positive territory. While the Nasdaq is up 136.87 points or 1.2 percent at 11,278.44, the Dow is up 152.32 points or 0.6 percent at 28,092.79 and the S&P 500 is up 19.96 points or 0.6 percent at 3,418.92.
The strength on Wall Street comes as tech stocks are extending the rebound seen on Wednesday, which came on the heels of a substantial three-day sell-off.
Tech giant Apple (AAPL) has been a key driver of the markets in recent sessions and is currently up by 1.2 percent after surging up by 4 percent in the previous session.
Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) are also seeing notable strength on the day but remain well off their recent highs.
Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly came in unchanged in the week ended September 5th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims came in at 884,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 846,000 from the 881,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The report also showed an increase in continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed producer prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of August.
Retail stocks have shown a strong move to the upside in morning trading, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 1.4 percent.
Considerable strength is also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index.
Airline stocks have also moved significantly higher after bucking the uptrend on Wednesday, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index climbing by 1.2 percent.
Banking, semiconductor and housing stocks stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day, while utilities and natural gas stocks have moved to the downside.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are seeing modest weakness on the day. While the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the downward move seen over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.8 basis points at 0.721 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX