Easing Ukraine Worries Lead To Strength On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session notably higher, stocks saw some further upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The markets continued to benefit from easing geopolitical concerns, although buying interest was somewhat subdued.

The major averages continued to move higher going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow climbed 61.78 points or 0.4 percent to 16,713.58, the Nasdaq rose 18.88 points or 0.4 percent to 4,453.00 and the S&P 500 advanced 8.46 points or 0.4 percent to 1,955.18.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected easing concerns about the situation in Ukraine following comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During a visit to the Crimea region, Putin claimed that Russia will do everything possible to end the conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists

"We will do all we can to end the conflict as soon as possible, to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine," Putin said in a meeting with members of State Duma political party groups.

Traders were also reacting to a report from the U.S. Labor Department showing that initial jobless claims rose by more than expected in the week ended August 9th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 311,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's revised level of 290,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge up to 295,000.

While the report initially offset early buying interest, the data seemed to help further ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department also released a separate report showing a modest drop in U.S. import prices in July amid a notable pullback in fuel prices.

In corporate news, Wal-Mart (WMT) posted a modest gain after reporting second quarter earnings that matched analyst estimates on revenues that came in above expectations. The retail giant also cut its full-year profit forecast.

Meanwhile, shares of Cisco (CSCO) moved notably lower after the networking giant reported fourth quarter earnings and revenues that topped expectations but issued lukewarm guidance for the first quarter. The company also announced plans to cut 6,000 jobs.

Sector News

Housing stocks showed a significant move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.7 percent. With the gain, the index continued to recover from the sell-off seen last month.

Radian Group (RDN), Standard Pacific (SPF), and Ryland Group (RYL) turned in some of the housing sector's best performances.

Considerable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Industry giants United Continental (UAL) and American Airlines (AAL) posted standout gains.

Biotechnology stocks also saw notable strength on the day, resulting in a 1.3 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The gain lifted the index to its best closing level in over five months.

Computer hardware, healthcare, and railroad stocks also turned in strong performances, while oil service and mining stocks bucked the uptrend.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries saw considerable volatility before ending the day modestly higher. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 1.3 basis points to a new one-year low of 2.40 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to producer price inflation data and how it will impact the outlook for interest rates.

Reports on industrial production, consumer sentiment, and New York manufacturing activity are also likely to attract some attention.

On the earnings front, Applied Materials (AMAT), J.C. Penney (JCP), and Nordstrom (JWN) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.