Wall St: Thursday mid-session
UPBEAT productivity data and more bullish recommendations on technology stocks outweighed bad news on jobs and sent stocks higher.
The US government said new jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, but the productivity of US businesses in the second quarter surged, beating most economists' forecasts.
Orders for American manufactured goods also rose more than expected in July, to the highest level in over two years, the government said, bolstering the case for a quickly improving economy.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was on track to hit a 17-month closing high for the third session in a row, while the Dow Jones industrial average appeared to have stalled around 14-month highs hit the day before.
The Dow Jones was up 11.37 points, or 0.12% at 9,579.83 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 8.94 points, or 0.48% at 1,861.84.
Brokerage UBS put a 'buy' recommendation on semiconductor stocks Applied Materials, Novellus Systems and KLA-Tencor, citing growing momentum for orders of equipment for building microchips.
Applied Materials was up 18 cents to $21.14. Novellus gained 69 cents, or 1.8% to $39.17 and KLA-Tencor added $1.15, or 2% to $57.68.
Goldman Sachs also raised its rating on tech leader Cisco Systems, continuing Wall Street's recent bullish mood on technology stocks. Cisco shares were up 40 cents, or 2% to $20.64.
