WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the mixed performance seen during Wednesday's session, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly higher.
The S&P 500 rose 14.91 points or 0.2 percent to 7,666.45, while the Dow inched up 20.51 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 50,926.56 and the Nasdaq crept up 10.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 26,871.45.
The modestly higher close on Wall Street came as treasury yields showed a significant downturn after initially extending their recent upward trend.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year note slumped into negative territory after reaching its highest levels since April 2002.
However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
Economists currently employment to increase by 90,000 jobs in September after jumping by 162,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.1 percent.
A day ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report this morning showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the week ended September 26th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 197,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 198,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 200,000 from the 197,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A sharp increase in crude oil prices also kept buying interest relatively subdued, with U.S. crude oil futures surging by more than 3 percent.
Sector News
Oil producer stocks showed a substantial move to the upside amid the spike in the price of crude oil, driving the NYSE Arca Oil Index up by 3.1 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Computer hardware, semiconductor and natural gas stocks also turned in strong performances, while biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks showed significant moves to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday, with markets in Hong Kong and mainland China closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index spiked by 3.3 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped by 2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all showed notable moves to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries rebounded over the course of the session after initially extending their recent downward trend. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slumped 6 basis points to 5.24 percent.
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