After ending the previous session modestly higher, stocks are seeing some further upside in early trading on Thursday. The major averages have all climbed into positive territory, reaching their best intraday levels in over a month.
In the past few minutes, the major averages have pulled back off their highs for the young session, but they remain firmly positive. The Dow is up 60.32 points or 0.5 percent at 12,686.34, the Nasdaq is up 12.32 points or 0.8 percent at 2,855.34 and the S&P 500 is up 9.23 points or 0.7 percent at 1,348.45.
The markets have benefited from the release of some relatively upbeat employment data, which has eased some of the recent concerns about the strength of the jobs market.
A report released by payroll process ADP showed a much bigger than expected increase in private sector employment in the month of June, while the Labor Department released a report showing a bigger than expected drop in weekly jobless claims.
The ADP report showed that private sector employment increased by 157,000 jobs in June following a downwardly revised increase of 36,000 jobs in May. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 60,000 jobs compared to the addition of 38,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said jobless claims fell to 418,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 432,000, while economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 420,000 from the 428,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The data has generated some optimism about the Labor Department's monthly employment report, which includes government jobs. The report, which is due to be released Friday morning, is currently expected to show that employment rose by about 110,000 jobs in June.
Retail stocks are seeing significant strength in early trading, benefiting from the upbeat jobs data as well as news of some strong June sales by apparel retailers. The NYSE Arca Retail Index has surged up by 1.9 percent to its highest intraday level in over a month.
Banking, computer hardware, and energy stocks are also seeing early strength, with energy stocks moving higher along with the price of the crude oil. On the other hand, some biotech and health insurance stocks are bucking the uptrend.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region once again experienced choppy trading on Thursday, ending the day mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Sang Index inched up by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all shown notable moves to the upside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.1 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE Index is up by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably lower on the heels of the upbeat employment data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 6.3 basis points at 3.158 percent.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.