U.S. Stocks Seeing Continued Strength After Early Advance

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher early in the session and continue to turn in a strong performance in afternoon trading. The major averages are extending the rebound seen in the previous session, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record intraday high.

In recent trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have reached new highs for the session. The Nasdaq is up 254.51 points or 1.6 percent at 16,286.05, the S&P 500 is up 53.83 points or 1.1 percent at 5,158.59 and the Dow is up 168.44 points or 0.4 percent at 38,829.49.

The extended rebound on Wall Street comes as optimism about the outlook for interest rates continues to inspire traders to get back into the markets following the pullback seen on Monday and Tuesday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told members of Congress on Wednesday that the central bank is likely to begin cutting interest rates later this year.

While Powell also reiterated officials needs "greater confidence" inflation is slowing, traders remain optimistic the Fed will begin cutting rates in June.

Adding to the optimism about interest rates, the European Central Bank lowered its annual inflation forecast while announcing its widely expected decision to leave rates unchanged.

Sector News

Semiconductor stocks continue to see substantial strength on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 3.5 percent to a record intraday high.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) have shot up by 3.6 percent after Mizuho Securities raised its price target on the AI darling to $1,000 per share, while Micron (MU) has surged by3.8 percent after Stifel upgraded its rating on the chipmaker's stock to Buy from Hold.

Considerable strength also remains visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The strength in the sector comes amid a modest increase by the price of crude oil.

Housing stocks have also shown a strong move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.8 percent to a record intraday high.

Software, oil producer and retail stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Economic News

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits came in unchanged from an upwardly revised level in the week ended March 2nd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims came in at 217,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level.

Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in the month of January amid a jump in the value of imports.

The report said the trade deficit increased to $67.4 billion in January from a revised $64.2 billion in December.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $63.5 billion from the $62.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The wider trade deficit came as the value of imports jumped by 1.1 percent to $324.6 billion, while the value of exports inched up by 0.1 percent to $257.2 billion.

A separate Labor Department report said the surge in labor productivity in the fourth quarter was unrevised at 3.2 percent, while the increase in unit labor costs was downwardly revised to 0.4 percent from 0.5 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved mostly lower after seeing early strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.0 basis point at 4.114 percent after hitting a low of 4.054 percent.