WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, with the major averages all moving to the upside after ending the previous session narrowly mixed. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have reached new four-month intraday highs.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 272.44 points or 0.6 percent at 43,254.87, the Nasdaq is up 112.04 points or 0.6 percent at 20,085.59 and the S&P 500 is up 35.37 points or 0.6 percent at 6,127.53.
The markets continue to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has helped propel the major averages well off their April lows despite lingering uncertainty about tariffs.
The advance has helped lift stocks back within striking distance of record levels, with the S&P 500 currently just 0.3 percent its February high.
The strength on Wall Street also comes following the release of a slew of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing an unexpected decrease by initial jobless claims in the week ended June 21st.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 236,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level of 246,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 245,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods spiked by much more than expected in the month of May.
The report said durable goods orders soared by 16.4 percent in May after tumbling by a revised 6.6 percent in April.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to surge by 8.5 percent compared to the 6.3 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding a substantial increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable orders climbed by 0.5 percent in May after coming in unchanged in April. Ex-transportation orders were expected to come in flat.
Meanwhile, revised data released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy shrank by more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2025.
The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product fell by 0.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the previously reported 0.2 percent dip. Economists had expected the decrease by GDP to be unrevised.
The bigger than previously estimated decline primarily reflecting downward revisions to consumer spending and exports that were partly offset by a downward revision to imports.
Sector News
Steel stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of the session, resulting in a 2.7 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
A jump by the price of crude oil is also contributing to significant strength among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent surge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
Networking, banking and transportation stocks are also seeing considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
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 jumped by 1.7 percent, while South Korea's Kospi slid by 0.9 percent.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength after ending the previous session roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.6 basis points at 4.265 percent.
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