While stocks moved sharply higher at the start of trading on Thursday, buying interest waned not long after the open. The major averages have subsequently pulled back well off their highs for the young session.

Currently, the major averages remain in positive territory, although the Nasdaq is only just above the unchanged line. The Nasdaq is up 2.39 points or 0.1 percent at 2,624.04, while the Dow is up 85.64 points or 0.7 percent at 11,866.58 and the S&P 500 is up 7.84 points or 0.6 percent at 1,236.94.

The initial strength on Wall Street was partly due to easing concerns about the financial situation in Europe, with a successful bond auction in Italy pulling the yield on Italy’s benchmark 10-year bond back below 7 percent.

News that former European Central Bank Vice President Lucas Papademos has been selected as Greece’s new prime minister also generated some positive sentiment, easing some of the recent uncertainty.

Upbeat U.S. economic data also contributed to the early strength, with the Labor Department releasing a report showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended November 5th.

The report showed that jobless claims fell to 390,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 400,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to increase to 400,000 from the 397,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in September, as the value of exports increased at a much faster rate than the value of imports.

Nonetheless, stocks were unable to sustain their initial upward move, as traders continued to express concerns about the outlook for the global economy.

Despite the subsequent pullback by the broader markets, networking stocks are seeing continued strength in early trading, resulting in a 1.2 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Cisco Systems (CSCO) is leading the sector higher after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Banking, railroad, and natural gas stocks are also seeing early strength, while notable weakness has emerged among airline and gold stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw considerable weakness on Thursday following the overnight sell-off on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 2.9 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plummeted by 5.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back some ground after moving sharply higher in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 8.8 basis points at 2.043 percent.