WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an early move to the upside, stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday. While the Dow has managed to remain in positive territory, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. The Nasdaq is down 17.84 points or 0.1 percent at 13,574.01, but the S&P 500 is up 4.46 points or 0.1 percent at 4,381.32 and the Dow is up 136.46 points or 0.4 percent at 33,989.12.
The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the results of the Federal Reserve's annual bank stress test.
The Fed said the results demonstrate that large banks are well positioned to weather a severe recession and continue to lend to households and businesses even during a severe recession.
'All 23 banks tested remained above their minimum capital requirements during the hypothetical recession, despite total projected losses of $541 billion,' the Fed said.
Meanwhile, traders are also reacting to another batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data, which has further eased recession worries but also renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates
The Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 24th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 239,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised level of 265,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 270,000 from the 264,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The upwardly revised figure for the previous week reflected the most jobless claims since the week ended October 23, 2021.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew by much more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2023.
The Commerce Department said gross domestic product jumped by 2.0 percent in the first quarter compared to the previously estimated 1.3 percent increase. Economists had expected the pace of GDP growth to be unrevised.
Sector News
Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.
Networking stocks are seeing considerable strength, however, resulting in a 1.5 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.
Notable strength is also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
The strength in the oil service sector comes amid a continued increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for August delivery climbing $0.70 to $70.26 a barrel.
Financial and steel stocks are also seeing some strength on the day, while housing stocks are giving back ground following the release of a report showing an unexpected slump in pending home sales in May.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply lower in reaction to the latest U.S. economic data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 13.4 basis points at 3.844 percent.
Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX