U.S. Stocks Showing Another Strong Move To The Upside

Stocks have moved sharply higher in morning trading on Thursday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. The major averages have all shown notable moves to the upside, reflecting another day of broad based buying interest.

Currently, the major averages are hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 450.40 points or 1.3 percent at 34,708.72, the Nasdaq is up 137.09 points or 0.9 percent at 15,033.93 and the S&P 500 is up 50.43 points or 1.2 percent at 4,446.07.

With the advance on the day, stocks continue to regain ground following the slump seen earlier this month, which dragged the Dow to its lowest closing level in three months on Tuesday.

The strength on Wall Street also comes amid easing concerns about Evergrande after the Chinese property developer reached a settlement with mainland bondholders.

The People’s Bank of China’s infusion of massive capital into the country’s banking system has also eased concerns about a potential default by Evegrande.

Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased for the second straight week in the week ended September 18th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 351,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 335,000.

With the uptick, jobless claims climbed further off the pandemic-era low of 312,000 set in the week ended September 4th.

The continued rebound surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to dip to 320,000 from the 332,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Airline stocks are extending the rally seen in the previous session, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3 percent to its best intraday level in almost two months.

Significant strength is also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

The strength in the oil service sector comes as the price of crude oil for November delivery is climbing $0.73 to $72.96 a barrel.

Banking stocks have also shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the KBW Bank Index up by 2.8 percent.

Computer hardware, natural gas and chemical stocks are also seeing considerable strength, reflecting the broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, gold stocks are among the few groups bucking the uptrend, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index slumping by 1.9 percent amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Thursday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.2 percent.

Most European stocks have also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are up by 1 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the modest pullback seen following the Fed announcement on Wednesday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.4 basis points at 1.370 percent.

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