WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After fluctuating early in the session, stocks have
moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major
averages have climbed more firmly into positive territory after bouncing back
and forth across the unchanged line in early trading.

Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow
is up 241.56 points or 0.6 percent at 38,144.85, the Nasdaq is up 180.30 points
or 1.2 percent at 15,785.78 and the S&P 500 is up 33.68 points or 0.7 percent at
5,052.07.

The strength that has emerged on Wall Street comes as traders seem to be
breathing a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy
announcement on Wednesday.

Traders have recently expressed some concerns the Fed's next monetary policy
move could actually be an interest rate hike rather than a cut, but Fed Chair
Jerome Powell post-meeting remarks seem to have alleviated those worries.

'Not only did Powell choose not to give a hawkish press conference, he took
great pains to be dovish,' said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for
Independent Advisor Alliance. 'At every turn he looked on the bright side of
data - from higher-than-expected inflation to recent lower-than-expected
economic growth - and dismissed any suggestions that the Fed was pivoting from
rate cuts to rate hikes.'

He added, 'He explicitly said he believes their next move would be a cut - even
if it will take longer to get to that cut than they believed a short time ago -
and set the bar extremely high for rate hikes.'

Earlier in the day, stocks saw considerable volatility as traders reacted to the
latest batch of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing
a surge by labor costs in the first quarter of 2024.

The Labor Department said unit labor costs soared by 4.7 percent in the first
quarter following a revised unchanged reading in the fourth quarter.

Economists had expected labor costs to shoot up by 3.2 percent compared to the
0.4 percent increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.

'Productivity growth wasn't strong enough to significantly mitigate the rise in
wages last quarter,' said Nationwide Financial Markets Economist Oren Klachkin.
'The strong rise in unit labor costs is another in a string of recent data
points indicating that inflation pressures remain relatively high.'

A separate Labor Department showed initial jobless claims came in unchanged last
week, while a Commerce Department report showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed
slightly in March.

Sector News

Transportation stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of the session,
driving the Dow Jones Transportation Average up by 2.6 percent.

Avis Budget (CAR) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) have skyrocketed on the day
after reporting their quarterly results.

Considerable strength has also emerged among retail stocks, with the Dow Jones
U.S. Retail Index jumping by 1.8 percent.

Oil service, semiconductor and brokerage stocks are also seeing notable
strength, while pharmaceutical stocks are bucking the uptrend.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a
mixed performance on Thursday. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.5
percent, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and South Korea's
Kospi dipped by 0.3 percent.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100
Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.2 percent and
the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly higher over the course of the
session after seeing early weakness. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark
ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.2 basis points at
4.583 percent.



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