U.S. stocks traded higher midway through Thursday’s session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up around 200 points, or 0.39%, at 53,673.57. The Nasdaq rose 1.53% to 26,530.37 and the S&P 500 gained 0.79% to 7,736.71. Information technology shares jumped 3.2%, while consumer staples fell 1.1%. Dollar General shares gained more than 5% after the company reported second-quarter earnings of $2.23 per share, above the $2.01 analyst consensus, and sales of $11.290 billion, ahead of the $11.197 billion estimate. The company also raised its FY26 guidance above estimates. Propanc Biopharma surged 157% after releasing preclinical and early translational data for PRP in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Okta rose 22% and Veeva Systems gained 18% after reporting upbeat second-quarter results. Build-A-Bear Workshop fell 23% after weaker-than-expected second-quarter sales and a cut to FY26 sales guidance, while Healthequity dropped 14% after affirming FY27 adjusted EPS guidance with a midpoint below estimates. Wendy’s declined 13% following a report that Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund was not making a take-private bid. Oil, silver and copper rose, while gold fell. European shares were lower, and Asian markets had mostly closed lower on Wednesday. U.S. initial jobless claims declined to 203,000 in the third week of August, while wholesale inventories and the goods trade deficit increased in July.