WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving to the upside early in the session, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Thursday. The early advance lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new record intraday highs.
Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Dow is up 152.39 points or 0.5 percent at 30,036.18, the Nasdaq is up 71.79 points or 0.6 percent at 12,421.16 and the S&P 500 is up 7.10 points or 0.2 percent at 3,676.11.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing a much bigger than expected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 28th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped to 712,000, a decrease of 75,000 from the previous week's revised level of 787,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 775,000 from the 778,000 originally reported for the previous month.
The weekly jobless claims data has generated some positive sentiment ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
Economists expect employment to increase by 481,000 jobs in November after jumping by 638,000 jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 6.8 percent from 6.9 percent.
Traders also continue to express optimism about a potential fiscal stimulus bill after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., said a 'compromise is within reach.'
Both Democrats and Republicans have offered new stimulus proposals, although it remains to be seen if lawmakers will finally reach an agreement after months of stagnation.
Boeing (BA) has helped to lead the Dow higher, with the aerospace giant jumping by 7.6 percent on news Europe's largest airline Ryanair is placing a firm order for 75 additional 737 MAX airplanes
Meanwhile, traders have shrugged off a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing the slight pullback in the rate of growth in U.S. service sector activity continued in the month of November.
The ISM said its services PMI edged down to 55.9 in November after dipping to 56.6 in October, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth. Economists had expected the index to slip to 56.0.
Sector News
Airline stocks continue to see substantial strength in mid-day trading, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 6 percent to its best intraday level in over nine months.
Significant strength has also emerged among housing stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. The index is rebounding after closing lower for four straight sessions.
Oil stocks are also turning in a strong performance on the day, resulting in a 1.3 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Oil Index.
Computer hardware and networking stocks are also seeing notable strength, while gold stocks have come under pressure despite an increase by the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed just above the unchanged line, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in another mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are regaining ground after trending lower over the past few sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.2 basis points at 0.916 percent.
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