Stocks Maintaining Positive Bias In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - While stocks have largely maintained a positive bias over the course of the trading day on Thursday, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance in mid-day trading.

The S&P 500 has reached a new record intraday high and the Dow has climbed back above 17,000, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is posting a modest loss.

Currently, the Dow is up 68.61 points or 0.4 percent at 17,047.74 and the S&P 500 is up 4.39 points or 0.2 percent at 1,990.90. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is down 2.54 points or 0.1 percent at 4,523.94.

Traders are digesting a slew of better than expected U.S. economic reports, including a report from the National Association of Realtors showing that existing home sales unexpectedly rose to a ten-month high in July.

NAR said existing home sales climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.15 million in July from a downwardly revised 5.03 million in June. Economists had expected existing home sales to drop to a rate of 5.00 million.

With the unexpected increase, existing home sales rose to their highest annual rate since reaching 5.26 million in September of last year.

The Labor Department also reported a slightly bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended August 16th.

The report said jobless claims dropped to 298,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level of 312,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to pull back to 300,000.

Additionally, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its index of regional manufacturing activity unexpectedly reached a new three-year high in August.

Recent upward momentum also continues to support the markets following the uptrend seen throughout much of the past two weeks.

The recent strength on Wall Street has seemed to defy concerns about conflicts overseas and the outlook for monetary policy

Sector News

While many of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, notable strength has emerged among banking stocks. The Dow Jones Banks Index has risen by 1.1 percent, extending a recent uptrend.

Bank of America (BAC) is turning in a strong performance within the sector, advancing by 2 percent following news of its nearly $17 billion settlement with the government over its mortgage lending.

Telecom, brokerage, and software stocks are also seeing moderate strength on the day, although buying interest has remained subdued.

On the other hand, gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.5 percent.

The weakness among gold stocks comes amid a sharp drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery falling $17.70 to $1,277.50

Biotechnology and airline stocks are also giving back some ground after moving notably higher over the past several sessions.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While U.K.'s FTSE Index edged up by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction despite the slew of upbeat economic data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 2.419 percent.