After showing a strong upward move in morning trading on Thursday, stocks continue to see considerable strength in the mid-afternoon. The major averages are hovering firmly in positive territory after reaching their best intraday levels in nearly a month.
The markets continue to benefit from the recent news out of Greece, where the parliament has voted in favor of a bill enabling the rapid implementation of the crucial austerity measures that were approved on Wednesday. Upbeat data on Chicago-area manufacturing activity has also generated buying interest.
Semiconductor and computer hardware stocks continue to see considerable strength in mid-afternoon trading, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
Energy stocks are also holding on to substantial gains, benefiting from a modest increase by the price of crude oil. Notable strength also remains visible among telecom, defense, and transportation stocks.
The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, holding on to strong gains. The Dow is currently up 133.84 points or 1.1 percent at 12,395.26, the Nasdaq is up 31.88 points or 1.2 percent at 2,772.37 and the S&P 500 is up 11.74 points or 0.9 percent at 1,319.15.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.