Upbeat Earnings News Contributing To Renewed Strength On Wall Street

Stocks have moved mostly higher in morning trading on Thursday, rebounding following the pullback seen late in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the upside, although the Dow and the S&P 500 remain below the record intraday highs set on Tuesday.

In recent trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have reached new highs for the session. The Dow is up 180.63 points or 0.5 percent at 35,671.32, the Nasdaq is up 141.26 points or 0.9 percent at 15,377.10 and the S&P 500 is up 34.63 points or 0.8 percent at 4,586.31.

A positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies has helped stocks renew the upward trend seen in recent sessions.

Shares of Ford (F) have moved sharply higher after the auto giant reported much better than expected third quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) has also spiked after raising its full-year forecast following a strong third quarter.

Shares of Caterpillar (CAT) and Merck (MRK) have also moved to the upside after the heavy equipment maker and drugmaker reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations.

On the other hand, shares of eBay (EBAY) have come under pressure after the eCommerce giant reported better than expected third quarter results but provided disappointing guidance.

Adding to the positive sentiment on Wall Street, a report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims decreased for the fourth straight week in the week ended October 23rd.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 281,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level 291,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 290,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the modest decrease, jobless claims once again fell to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020.

Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing a dramatic slowdown in the pace of U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, potentially viewing the data as old news.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product increased by 2.0 percent in the third quarter after jumping by 6.7 percent in the second quarter. Economists had expected the pace of GDP growth to slow to 2.7 percent.

The bigger than expected slowdown in GDP growth came as consumer spending rose by 1.6 percent in the third quarter after spiking by 12.0 percent in the second quarter.

Semiconductor stocks are seeing significant strength in morning trading, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiking by 2.2 percent to its best intraday level in a month.

Shares of Wolfspeed (WOLF), former known as Cree, are skyrocketing after the company reported a narrower than expected fiscal first quarter loss.

Considerable strength has also emerged among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Pharmaceutical, housing and healthcare stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day, while gold stocks are moving lower despite an increase by the price of the precious metal.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving notably higher over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.7 basis points at 1.566 percent.