WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving mostly higher early in the session, stocks have given back ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Dow and the S&P 500 sliding into negative territory.
Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the Nasdaq is up 35.28 points or 0.2 percent at 17,119.58, the S&P 500 is down 18.65 points or 0.3 percent at 5,501.42 and the Dow is down 275.07 points or 0.7 percent at 40,699.90.
The volatility on Wall Street comes following the release of mixed readings on employment ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of August.
ADP said private sector employment rose by 99,000 jobs in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 111,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected private sector employment to jump by 145,000 jobs compared to the addition of 122,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a separate report showing a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 31st.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 227,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 232,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 230,000 from the 231,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Sector News
While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, airline stocks are seeing considerable strength, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2.3 percent.
JetBlue (JBLU) has helped lead the sector higher, with the airline soaring by 8.3 percent after raising its third quarter revenue guidance.
Gold stocks are also seeing notable strength amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Indedx.
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks have come under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index down by 1.8 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index crept up by 0.1 percent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 0.4 percent.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back near the unchanged line after seeing early strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 3.759 percent.
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