WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday, more than offsetting the modest weakness seen in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq is up 344.40 points or 1.3 percent at 26,474.59, the S&P 500 is up 47.45 points or 0.6 percent at 7,723.15 and the Dow is up 160.84 points or 0.3 percent at 53,624.72.
The surge by the Nasdaq reflects strength among technology stocks amid a positive reaction to earnings news from AI giant Nvidia (NVDA).
Shares of Nvidia have shot up by 7.6 percent after the chipmaker reported better than expected second quarter results and provided upbeat revenue guidance for the current quarter.
'Nvidia once again delivered stronger-than-expected results, providing some reassurance that the AI investment cycle remains intact,' said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.
Dow component Salesforce (CRM) has also skyrocketed on the day, with the cloud-based software company soaring by 21.4 percent.
The spike by Salesforce comes after the company reported second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates and forecast better than expected third quarter earnings.
Salesforce has helped lead a rally by software stocks, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index up by 3.8 percent to a nine-month intraday high.
Semiconductor stocks are also seeing significant strength following Nvidia's results, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves, although energy stocks are seeing notable weakness amid a continued decrease in the price of crude oil.
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Labor Department unexpectedly showed a modest decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 22nd.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 203,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 207,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 208,000 from the 206,000 originally reported for the previous week.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. China's Shangia Composite Index jumped by 1.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks have moved mostly lower on the day. The French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.7 percent, although the German DAX Index has bucked the downtrend and is up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction following recent volatility. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 4.658 percent.
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