WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following a disappointing start to the year, stocks are turning in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Thursday. While the Dow and the S&P 500 have moved back to the upside, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is moving lower for the fifth straight session.
Currently, the Dow is up 204.05 points or 0.6 percent at 37,634.24 and the S&P 500 is up 13.20 points or 0.3 percent at 4,718.01. The Nasdaq, on the other hand, is well off its worst levels but still down 7.49 points or 0.1 percent at 14,584.72.
Traders seem somewhat reluctant to make more significant moves amid renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.
While the minutes reiterated Fed officials widely expect to begin lowering rates in 2024, they also highlighted an 'unusually elevated degree of uncertainty' about the outlook.
Potentially adding to concerns the Fed may not begin lowering rates as soon as expected, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of December.
ADP said private sector employment climbed by 164,000 jobs in December after rising by a downwardly revised 101,000 jobs in November.
Economists had expected private sector employment to grow by 115,000 jobs compared to the addition of 103,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended December 30th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims declined to 202,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level of 220,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 216,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on the employment situation in the month of December.
Sector News
While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, banking stocks have moved significantly higher, driving the KBW Bank Index up by 1.3 percent.
Notable strength is also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, with the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index climbing by 1.1 percent to a record intraday high.
Airline and brokerage stocks have also moved to the upside on the day, although buying interest has remained relatively subdued.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index declined by 0.5 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are seeing modest strength on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the downside after turning higher over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 6.9 basis points at 3.976 percent.
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