WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, largely offsetting the weakness seen to start the week. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the advance.
The major averages reached new highs late in the session, closing firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq surged 200.03 points or 1.4 percent to 15,055.65, the S&P 500 advanced 41.73 points or 0.9 percent to 4,780.93 and the S&P 500 climbed 201.94 points or 0.5 percent to 37,468.61.
Tech stocks helped lead the way higher on Wall Street, with shares of Apple (AAPL) jumping by 3.3 percent after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.
A rally by semiconductor stocks also contributed to the surge by the Nasdaq, as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiked by 3.4 percent.
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) helped lead the sector higher, soaring 9.8 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance.
Networking, computer hardware and software stocks also showed notable moves to the upside over the course of the session.
Outside the tech sector, airline stocks saw substantial strength on the day, resulting in a 3.6 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index bounced off its lowest closing level in well over a month.
Oil service and housing stocks also saw considerable strength, while interest-rate sensitive utilities stocks bucked the uptrend.
The rebound on Wall Street came despite a continued increase by treasury yields, which moved higher after the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected weekly decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 187,000 in the week ended January 13th, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level of 203,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 207,000 from the 202,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected decline, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 182,000 in the week ended September 24, 2022.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.8 percent, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed marginally lower and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slid b 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have climbed off their worst levels but remain in negative territory. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.8 basis points at 4.134 percent.
Looking Ahead
A busy week on the U.S. economic calendar continues on Friday with the release of reports on existing home sales and consumer sentiment.
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