U.S. Stocks Showing A Lack Of Direction Following Two-Day Advance

(RTTNews) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line after moving higher over the two previous sessions.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 5.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 47,888.47, the Nasdaq is up 24.76 points or 0.1 percent at 23,478.85 and the S&P 500 is up 5.01 points or 0.1 percent at 6,854.73.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street comes as traders take a step back to assess the near-term outlook for the markets following the volatility seen earlier in the week.

Stocks pulled back on Monday after last week's week rally only to regain ground during relatively choppy trading on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Optimism about another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week helped the major averages more than offset Monday's decline.

Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a three-year low in the week ended November 29th.

The report said initial jobless claims slid to 191,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000.

Economist had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 216,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decline, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 189,000 in the week ended September 24, 2022.

"Initial claims can be subject to big swings at this time of the year, so we won't read much into one week's number," Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, "Still, initial claims have remained in a range consistent with a relatively low pace of job losses despite recent layoff announcements."

Sector News

Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.

Computer hardware stocks have shown a significant rebound, however, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index climbing by 1.6 percent after slumping by 1.7 percent on Wednesday.

Considerable strength is also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.

On the other hand, retail stocks have shown a notable move to the downside, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index down by 1.1 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.6 basis points at 4.094 percent.