U.S. stocks made modest gains Thursday following Wednesday's mammoth advance.

Wednesday was Wall Street's best trading day in 8 weeks, and some profit-taking was only natural. Buying support however continued keeping the major indices in positive territory.

The National Association of Realtors reported pending sales of previously owned homes climbed in July whereas a fall was expected. "The housing market continues to be very challenging, but at least it appears to be stabilizing," Lawrence Glazer, managing partner at Mayflower Advisors in Boston told Reuters Thomson. "I think a lot of people are going to think they've been too pessimistic."

Initial jobless claims declined for a second straight week, stemming fears about a double-dip recession.

At the close of trading Thursday the Dow Jones Industrials were up 50.53 points or 0.49% at 10,320.10.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 23.17 points or 1.06% at 2,200.01.

The Standard and Poor's 500 was ahead 9.81 points or 0.91% at 1,090.10.

The U.S. dollar was mixed. In late afternoon trading in New York Thursday the euro was quoted little changed at 1.2826. The Japanese yen edged down to 84.23, while the Swiss franc firmed to 1.0127.

The Australian dollar rose to .9114 cents, while the British pound dipped to 1.5400. The Canadian dollar was a tad higher at 1.0529.