After staging a substantial rally in the previous session, stocks are seeing some further upside in morning trading on Thursday. While the Dow has been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, the broader Nasdaq and S&P 500 have managed to hold onto moderate gains.
The strength in the markets comes as traders digest the latest batch of economic data, including reports showing a modest decrease in jobless claims in the week ended August 28th and an unexpected increase in pending home sales in July.
Retail stocks have shown a notable move to the upside, as traders react positively to the release of August sales results from some major retailers. The S&P Retail Index has risen by 1.9 percent and is poised to end the session at its best closing level in well over two months.
The unexpected increase in pending home sales has also contributed to strength among housing stocks, while electronic storage, semiconductor, and gold stocks are also posting notable gains. On the other hand, weakness is visible among utilities and oil service stocks.
The major averages have moved to the downside in recent trading, but the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 remain positive. While the Dow is down 11.09 points or 0.1 percent at 10,258.38, the Nasdaq is up 10.53 points or 0.5 percent at 2,187.37 and the S&P 500 is up 3.02 points or 0.3 percent at 1,083.31.
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