After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The gains on the day have partly offset the weakness seen over the past few sessions.
The strength on Wall Street comes on the heels of the release of a pair of upbeat economic reports, including a report from the Commerce Department showing slightly stronger than expected retail sales growth in May.
Steel stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 2 percent. The gain by the index comes after it ended the previous session at its worst closing level in almost four years.
Significant strength has also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Myriad Genetics (MYGN) is leading the sector higher following a Supreme Court ruling on gene patenting.
Commercial real estate stocks are also moving notably higher after falling sharply in recent weeks. The NYSE Arca REIT Index has risen by 1.4 percent after ending the previous session at a nearly five-month closing low.
Networking, telecom, and housing stocks are also seeing strength in mid-day trading, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
The major averages are currently posting moderate gains, near their highs for the session. The Dow is up 57.53 points or 0.4 percent at 15,052.76, the Nasdaq is up 14.15 points or 0.4 percent at 3,414.58 and the S&P 500 is up 7.06 points or 0.4 percent at 1,619.58.
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