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Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. With the continued advance, the major averages more than offset the sell-off seen on Monday, turning positive for the week.<\/p>\n
The major average pulled back off their best levels in late-day trading but remained firmly positive. The Dow soared 506.50 points or 1.5 percent to 34,764.82, the Nasdaq jumped 155.40 points or 1 percent to 15,052.24 and the S&P 500 surged up 53.34 points or 1.2 percent to 4,448.98.<\/p>\n
Stocks continued to regain ground following the slump seen earlier this month, which dragged the Dow to its lowest closing level in three months on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The strength on Wall Street also came amid easing concerns about Evergrande after the Chinese property developer reached a settlement with mainland bondholders.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, traders 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
With the uptick, jobless claims climbed further off the pandemic-era low of 312,000 set in the week ended September 4th.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Traders also continue to digest the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, when the central bank signaled tapering asset purchases could be coming “soon.”<\/p>\n
Sector News<\/p>\n
Oil service stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 5.2 percent.<\/p>\n
The rally by oil service stocks came amid another sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for November delivery jumping $1.07 to $73.30 a barrel.<\/p>\n
Substantial strength was also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 3.5 percent spike by the KBW Bank Index. <\/p>\n
Airline stocks also saw considerable strength, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3 percent to its best closing level in over two months.<\/p>\n
Natural gas, brokerage, and computer hardware stocks also moved notably higher, while gold stocks were among the few groups to buck the uptrend amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.<\/p>\n
Other Markets<\/p>\n
In overseas trading, stock markets<\/span> 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.<\/p>\n Most European stocks also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1 percent, although the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.<\/p>\n In the bond market, treasuries moved notably lower over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 7.6 basis points to a two-month closing high of 1.410 percent.<\/p>\n Looking Ahead<\/p>\n A report on new home sales in the month of August may attract attention on Friday along with remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and several other Fed officials. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Business News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n