Up about 11 points to around 1,350, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was trading 0.8% higher in Thursday morning action as a result of better economic data from the transportation sector and two jobs reports from the U.S. government that had initial unemployment claims lower than expected and fewer  filing for unemployment benefits than projected.

At the front of the charge for the S&P was the retail sector. While June retail sales were mediocre, some companies posted better-than-expected numbers. Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) and Target (NYSE: TGT) were both up more than 6%. Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) was trading higher by about 5%.

At around $32.75, Urban Outfitters is up about almost $2. For the past five days, Urban Outfitters is up more than 15%.

Up around $3.30 to about $51.75, Target, too, is up by a double-digit percentage for the past five days of trading.

Kohl’s, trading higher by about $3 and around 6% more, at almost $55, is up almost 9% for the week. The Gap (NYSE: GPS) and Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) also were up by more than 4%.

Off by more than a dollar, also from the retail sector, was JC Penney (NYSE: JCP). Trading lower by about 3.5%, JC Penney fell to around $32.80 in the morning session. During the past five days, JC Penney is down by more than 5% as its sales figures were worse than expected.

Health insurance company Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP) was down about 1.76% to under $78.50. Wellpoint is trading almost 20% above its 200-day moving average and higher than its 20- and 50-day moving averages. It is around 4% lower than its year high.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) also was down more than 2% to around $374. With such a high price, the volume for Intuitive Surgical is low: about 322,000 for the past three months. It is trading above its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages. The relative strength index for Intuitive Surgical is 62.71, with 70 being considered overbought.

As of this writing, Johnathan Yates did not own any of the aforementioned stocks.