U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Higher Following Recent Weakness

After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have all climbed into positive territory following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

In recent trading, the major averages have reached new highs for the session. The Dow is up 122.09 points or 0.4 percent at 33,672.36, the Nasdaq is up 66.25 points or 0.5 percent at 13,159.10 and the S&P 500 is up 21.15 points or 0.5 percent at 4,295.66.

The strength on Wall Street may partly reflect bargain hunting, as traders pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates have weighed on the markets in recent session, dragging the major averages down to their lowest levels in three months.

Meanwhile, traders are also looking ahead to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which are set to kick off just as the markets close.

Powell is scheduled host a town hall with educators in Washington, D.C. and nationwide via webcast, with the Fed chief set to respond to questions from the in-person audience and virtual participants from across the country.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing the pace of U.S. economic growth in the second quarter of 2023 was unrevised from the previous estimate.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product increased by 2.1 percent in the second quarter, unrevised from the estimate provided last month. The unrevised reading matched economist estimates.

The unrevised GDP growth in the second quarter still reflects a slight slowdown compared to the 2.2 percent growth in the first quarter.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed a slight increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 23rd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims crept up to 204,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 202,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 201,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Sector News

Semiconductor stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.7 percent. The index is climbing further off their four-month closing low set on Tuesday.

Considerable strength is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Housing, airline and brokerage stocks also seeing notable strength, while interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks are seeing further downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index and South Korea’s Kospi both inched up by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have climbed off their worst levels of the day but remain in negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.5 basis points at 4.651 percent.

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