WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the weakness seen in the previous session, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Thursday. The major averages all moved higher on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a notable advance.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the end of the day but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 201.40 points or 0.9 percent to 22,941.80, the S&P 500 climbed 39.04 points or 0.6 percent to 6,738.44 and the Dow rose 144.20 points or 0.3 percent at 46,734.61.
Energy stocks saw substantial strength on the day as the price of crude oil skyrocketed after the Trump administration announced sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies.
The Treasury Department announced sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, citing Russia's 'lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine.'
President Donald Trump recently expressed some optimism about ending the drawn-out Russia-Ukraine war before suddenly canceling a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked by 4.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index jumped by 3.0 percent.
Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
SanDisk (SNDK) helped lead the sector higher, with the data storage device maker soaring by 13.7 percent to a record closing high.
Networking, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while transportation stocks showed a notable move to the downside.
The strength on Wall Street came as the markets shrugged off an initially negative reaction to corporate earnings news from companies like Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM).
Shares of Tesla showed a significant turnaround over the course of the session, jumping by 2.3 percent even though the electric vehicle maker reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings.
Tech giant IBM ended the day down by 0.8 percent but was well off its lows. The company reported third quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates but slowing growth in its core cloud computing business.
Meanwhile, shares of Honeywell (HON) shot up by 6.8 percent after the industrial giant reported third quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
In U.S. economic news, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of September.
NAR said existing home sales jumped by 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.06 million in September after dipping by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.00 million in August. The rebound matched expectations.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both crept up by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after trending higher over the past several sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.8 basis points to 3.991 percent.
Looking Ahead
Following several quiet days on the U.S. economic front due in part to the ongoing government shutdown, the Labor Department's closely watched report on consumer price inflation is likely to be in focus on Friday.
On the earnings front, semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) is among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News