Extending the upward move seen throughout the week, stocks turned in another strong performance during trading on Thursday. The markets continued to benefit from news out of Greece as well as upbeat Chicago-area manufacturing data.
The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory, at their best closing levels in a month. The Dow jumped 152.92 points or 1.3 percent to 12,414.34, the Nasdaq surged up 33.03 points or 1.2 percent 2,773.52 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.23 points or 1 percent to 1,320.64.
After the crucial vote in favor of a package of austerity measures on Wednesday, traders continued to keep an eye on Greece, which took another step steps towards receiving additional financial assistance.
The Greek parliament voted 155 to 136 to pass a second bill that enables the rapid implementation of the austerity plan, which includes billions of euros in spending cuts and tax increases.
The markets also benefited from the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management - Chicago showing that Chicago-area manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded at an accelerated pace in the month of June
The ISM - Chicago said its business barometer jumped to 61.1 in June from 56.6 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating an increase in activity. The increase surprised economists, who had expected the index to drop to a reading of 53.0.
The release of the relatively upbeat report on Chicago-area activity came after the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia released separate reports showing unexpected deteriorations in regional manufacturing activity.
Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said, "With all the mixed readings around the country, tomorrow's national ISM will reconcile all and will be the most important data point of the week as we shift our focus back to the economy after all the Greek drama this week."
Friday morning, the Institute for Supply Management is due to release its report on national manufacturing activity. The index of activity in the manufacturing sector is currently expected to slip to 52.0 in June from 53.5 in May.
In corporate news, shares of Worthington Industries (WOR) surged up by 9.8 percent after the metal processing company reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings while also raising its quarterly dividend by 20 percent and announcing a 10 million share buyback.
Sector News
Electronic storage stocks showed a particularly strong upward move over the course of the trading day, driving the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index up by 3 percent. Hutchinson (HTCH) and NetApp (NTAP) helped to lead the sector higher.
Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) and Broadcom (BRCM) turned in two of the sector's best performances.
Outside of the tech sector, oil service stocks saw substantial strength on the day, benefiting from an increase by the price of crude oil. With crude for August delivery rising $0.65 to $95.42 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index advanced by 1.7 percent.
Most of the other major sectors also moved to the upside, reflecting broad based buying interest. Telecom, defense, and transportation stocks posted substantial gains. Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region showed strong upward moves on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.5 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index jumped by 1.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged up by a more modest 0.2 percent.
The European markets also showed notable moves to the upside over the course of the trading day. The German DAX Index advanced by 1.1 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 1.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries saw considerable weakness amid the continued rally on Wall Street. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 5 basis points to a one-month closing high of 3.158 percent.
Looking Ahead
As mentioned above, trading on Friday is likely to be driven by reaction to the ISM's report on manufacturing activity. Nonetheless, trading may be somewhat subdued ahead of the long holiday weekend.
Along with the ISM's manufacturing report, trading could also be impacted by reports on consumer sentiment and construction spending.
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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.