WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After ending the previous session little changed, stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day just shy of their record closing highs.
The major averages all posted strong gains on the day. The Nasdaq jumped 194.36 points or 1.0 percent to 20,167.91, the Dow advanced 404.41 points or 0.9 percent to 43,386.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 48.86 points or 0.8 percent to 6,141.02.
The markets continued 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 ending the day just 3 points from its February closing high.
The strength on Wall Street also came 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 showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index surging by 3.0 percent to its best closing level in over six months.
An extended rebound by the price of crude oil also contributed to significant strength among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
Gold, banking and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, 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.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. The German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.
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.
Looking Ahead
Trading on Friday is likely to be impacted by reaction to a report on personal income and spending, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.
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