WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With traders returning to their desks following the
Juneteenth holiday on Wednesday, stocks are seeing modest strength during
trading on Thursday. While buying interest has remained somewhat subdued, the
Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have once again reached new record intraday highs.

Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still in
positive territory. The Dow is up 94.11 points or 0.2 percent at 38,928.97, the
Nasdaq is up 26.62 points or 0.2 percent at 17,888.85 and the S&P 500 is up
10.55 points or 0.2 percent at 5,497.58.

The modest strength on Wall Street comes amid a continued advance by shares of
Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leader surging by 2.5 percent.

Nvidia shot up by 3.5 percent during trading on Tuesday, surpassing Microsoft
(MSFT) as the world's most valuable public company.

Traders are also digesting the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including a
Labor Department report showing a modest pullback by first-time claims for U.S.
unemployment benefits in the week ended June 15th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 238,000, a decrease
of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 243,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to fall to 235,000 from the 242,000
originally reported for the previous week.

The upwardly revised number for the previous week marked the highest level since
claims reached 248,000 in the week ended August 12, 2003.

'Initial claims fell less than we anticipated in the week ended June 15 and
point toward a moderation in growth in nonfarm payrolls in June,' said Ryan
Sweet, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, 'The risk of labor demand being too weak to prevent the unemployment
rate from rising could give some support in cutting interest rates as an
imbalance in the labor market is unlikely to be a significant factor in future
inflation.'

Meanwhile, a separate report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly
showed a steep drop in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of
May.

The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged by 5.5 percent to an annual
rate of 1.277 million in May after surging by 4.1 percent to a revised rate of
1.352 million in April.

Economists had expected housing starts to climb by 0.7 percent to an annual rate
of 1.370 million from the 1.360 million originally reported for the previous
month.

The report also said building permits slumped by 3.8 percent to an annual rate
of 1.386 million in May after tumbling by 3.0 percent to a rate of 1.440 million
in April.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to
increase by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.450 million.

Sector News

Gold stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances, resulting in
a 2.5 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The rally by gold stocks comes amid a sharp increase by the price of the
precious metal with gold for August delivery jumping $30.90 to $2,377.80 an
ounce.

An increase by the price of crude oil is also contributing to considerable
strength among oil producer stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain being
posted by the NYSE Arca Oil Index.

Transportation and steel stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day,
while housing stocks have moved to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a
mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up
by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved notably higher on the day.
While the French CAC 40 Index has surged by 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index is
up by 1.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the downside following the
rebound seen on Tuesday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note,
which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.2 basis points at 4.269 percent.



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