U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 300 points on Thursday.Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.51% to 51,754.78 while the NASDAQ rose 1.17% to 26,324.95. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.94% to 7,489.55.Leading and Lagging SectorsInformation technology shares jumped by 2.3% on Thursday.In trading on Thursday, energy stocks fell by 2%.Top HeadlineU.S. initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 226,000 in the second week of June, compared to market estimates of 225,000.Equities Trading UP Equities Trading DOWNCommoditiesIn commodity news, oil traded down 3.6% to $74.04 while gold traded down 2.5% at $4,270.00.Silver traded down 5.6% to $66.780 on Thursday, while copper fell 1.2% to $6.4180.Euro zoneEuropean shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.4%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.2%. London's FTSE 100 fell 1.2%, Germany's DAX gained 0.2%, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.3%.Asia Pacific MarketsAsian markets closed mostly mixed on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 1.65%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.59%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.43% and India's BSE Sensex climbing 0.33%.Economics