U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the S&P 500 gaining around 1% on Thursday.The Dow traded up 0.30% to 51,641.89 while the NASDAQ rose 1.42% to 26,392.39. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.01% to 7,495.26.Leading and Lagging SectorsInformation technology shares jumped by 2.3% on Thursday.In trading on Thursday, energy stocks fell by 2.1%.Top HeadlineAccenture reported third-quarter earnings of $3.80 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $3.69. Revenue rose 6% year over year in U.S. dollars, or 3% in local currency, to $18.72 billion, slightly below the consensus estimate of $18.75 billion.Equities Trading UP Equities Trading DOWNCommoditiesIn commodity news, oil traded down 2% to $75.31 while gold traded down 2.6% at $4,269.20.Silver traded down 6% to $66.505 on Thursday, while copper fell 1.4% to $6.4050.Euro zoneEuropean shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.3%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.1%. London's FTSE 100 fell 1%, Germany's DAX gained 0.4%, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.5%.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