6th Feb 2014 15:03
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Stocks have moved mostly higher in early trading on Thursday, offsetting the weakness seen in the previous session. The major averages have climbed firmly into positive territory, bouncing further off the lows that were set on Monday.
The early strength on Wall Street comes as traders digest a batch of US economic data, including a report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended February 1st.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 331,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 351,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 337,000.
A separate Labor Department report showed a bigger than expected increase in labor productivity in the fourth quarter, while the Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened more than expected in December.
Housing stocks are moving sharply higher in early trading, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 2.7%. Vulcan Materials (VMC) is leading the sector higher after the construction materials producer reported strong fourth quarter earnings growth.
Networking, airline, and retail stocks are also seeing early strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
The major averages have seen some further upside in recent trading, reaching new highs for the young session. The Dow is up 111.33 points or 0.7% at 15,551.56, the Nasdaq is up 35.15 points or 0.9% at 4,046.70 and the S&P 500 is up 12.02 points or 0.7% at 1,763.66.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX