(RTTNews) - Stocks are seeing some further upside in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday, extending the upward move seen for much of the session following today’s upbeat GDP data. The major averages are all in positive territory by notable margins, partly offsetting their recent losses.

The Commerce Department released a report this morning indicating that economic activity in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the third quarter, with gross domestic product increasing following four consecutive quarters of contraction.

The considerable jump in GDP prompted some traders to shrug off the latest news on the labor market, even though today’s jobs report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims did not fall by as much as economists had expected.

On the earnings front, Procter & Gamble (PG), Exxon Mobil (XOM), AutoNation (AN) and Motorola (MOT) were among the firms reporting on the day, largely topping bottom line forecasts but failing to meet revenue expectations.

The major averages have continued to move higher in recent trading, once again reaching new highs for the session. The Dow is currently up 179.33 at 9,942.02, the Nasdaq is up 37.33 at 2,096.94 and the S&P 500 is up 21.46 at 1,063.81.

Dow Components

A majority of the Dow components are moving higher, helping the blue chip index to post a triple digit gain.

Alcoa (AA) is helping to lead the Dow higher, surging up by 8.8 percent. With the jump, the stock is recovering from the seven-week loss posted on Wednesday.

Financial giants American Express (AXP) and Bank of America (BAC) are also posting notable gains, climbing by 4.6 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. AmEx is hovering near last weeks’ one year closing high, while BofA is bouncing off of its worst level in roughly three months.

Procter & Gamble is also on the rise, posting a gain of 3.8 percent. The gains comes on news that the firm’s first-quarter net earnings were $1.06 per share, beating the $0.99 per share estimated by Wall Street analysts.

Caterpillar (CAT), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Boeing (BA), Home Depot and Disney (DIS) are also posting notable gains, while Merck (MRK) is bucking the uptrend, falling by 3 percent. Shares of the drug giant are poised to end the day at a one-month closing low.

Sector News

Steel and gold stocks continue to see substantial strength in mid-afternoon trading, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index and the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 7 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.

The steel index is recovering from the seven-week closing low it set on Wednesday, while the gold index is bouncing off of yesterday’s two month closing low. The gains by gold stocks come as the precious metal jumped $16.60 to $1,047.10 an ounce in commodities trading on the NYMEX.

Housing stocks are also moving considerably higher, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 3.5 percent. The index is being boosted by shares of Radian Group (RDN), which have rocketed up by 18.3 percent, bouncing off the three-month closing low set in the previous session.

Healthcare, commercial real estate, natural gas, oil service, and airline stocks are also advancing, among many others, largely moving off of the lows set after yesterday’s profit taking.

In Focus: Economic Data

As mentioned above, the Commerce Department said its advance estimate showed that GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter compared to a 0.7 percent decrease in the second quarter. Economists had been expecting GDP to increase by 3.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said jobless claims in the week ended October 24th edged down to 530,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 531,000. The drop was smaller than the decrease of about 6,000 expected by economists.

Continuing claims, which measure the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment help, dropped 148,000 to 5.797 million in the week ended October 17th. This was the sharpest weekly slide since early July.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region extended their losses on Thursday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell by 1.8 percent on the day, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down by 2.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets closed notably higher on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose by 1.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index gained 1.4 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

In the bond markets, treasuries are holding onto their gains after mixed results from the seven-year note auction. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is trading at 3.499 percent, posting a gain of 8.8 basis points.

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