Stocks Mostly Higher Following Upbeat News From Apple - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The strength that has emerged on the day has largely offset the weakness that was seen in the previous session.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering in positive territory. The Dow is up 21.61 points or 0.1 percent at 16,523.26, the Nasdaq is up 27.37 points or 0.7 percent at 4,154.34 and the S&P 500 is up 6.62 points or 0.4 percent at 1,882.01.

Tech giant Apple (AAPL) is helping to lead the way higher on Wall Street, with the iPod and iPhone maker surging up by nearly 8 percent to a four-month intraday high.

After the close of trading on Wednesday, Apple reported second quarter earnings and revenues that came in above analyst estimates.

Apple also increased its stock repurchase authorization by $30 billion, raised its dividend by 8 percent and announced a 7-for-1 stock split.

Social media giant Facebook (FB) has also moved to the upside after reporting better than expected first quarter results. The company also announced that its CFO David Ebersman has decided to step down.

E*Trade (ETFC), Caterpillar (CAT), and American Airlines (AAL) are among the other big-name companies posting notable gains after reporting quarterly earnings that beat analyst estimates.

Positive sentiment has also been generated by the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing a bigger than expected increase in durable goods orders in the month of March.

The report said durable goods orders surged up by 2.6 percent in March after jumping by a revised 2.1 percent in February. Economists had expected orders to climb by 2.0 percent.

Excluding an increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 2.0 percent in March compared to economist estimates for 0.9 percent growth.

However, buying interest has remained somewhat subdued amid renewed concerns about escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine amid reports that Ukrainian forces killed several pro-Russian militants during an anti-terrorism operation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the interim Ukrainian government's use of the army against its own people as a "serious crime" and warned of "consequences."

Sector News

After ending the previous session notably lower, housing stocks have shown a strong move back to the upside on the day. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index has surged up by 1.8 percent, more than offsetting yesterday's 1.1 percent loss.

D.R. Horton (DHI) has helped to lead the housing sector higher, with the homebuilder jumping by 7.8 percent after reporting better than expected second quarter results.

Significant strength has also emerged among natural gas stock, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The gain extends a recent upward trend by the index, which has reached a record intraday high.

Meanwhile, substantial weakness remains visible among telecom stocks, with the NYSE Arca Telecom Index down by 2.4 percent. Verizon (VZ) is posting a notable loss after reporting first quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.

Electronic storage and oil service stocks are also under pressure on the day, partly offsetting the strength in the aforementioned sectors.

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 slumped by 1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all ended the day on the upside. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the downside but remain well off their lows for the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2 basis points at 2.706 percent.