NEW YORK, New York - Easing pressure on U.S. Treasury yields boost stocks on American markets Thursday. Gains however were moderate.

"You're just getting a little bit of reprieve from the selling pressure. Absent a big catalyst, it's usually hard to sustain such movement in one direction," Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, told CNBC Thursday.

"This little bit of a pause, maybe a slight downtime shouldn't be unexpected, even amidst the kind of more negative backdrop."

S&P 500: The S&P 500 index closed at 4,299.71, posting a gain of 25.20 points, equivalent to a 0.59 percent increase.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) ended the day at 33,666.34, recording an increase of 116.07 points, or 0.35 percent.

NASDAQ Composite: The NASDAQ Composite index closed at 13,201.28, showing a notable gain of 108.43 points, which translates to an increase of 0.83 percent.

U.S. Dollar takes a breather on Global Foreign Exchange Markets

On Thursday, the world foreign exchange markets saw fluctuations in currency exchange rates with a notable lessening of demand for the U.S. dollar. Here are the latest updates on key currency pairs:

EUR/USD (Euro / US Dollar): The euro strengthened against the dollar, with the EUR/USD pair trading at 1.0562, marking an increase of 0.0060, or a 0.57 percent rise.

USD/JPY (US Dollar / Japanese Yen): The Japanese Yen edged up to 149.23, reflecting a gain 0.39, or 0.26 percent.

USD/CAD (US Dollar / Canadian Dollar): The Canadian dollar made a marginal gain of 0.0004 or 0.04 percent to 1.3493.

GBP/USD (British Pound / US Dollar): The British dound gained ground Thursday, with the GBP/USD pair trading at 1.21984, marking an increase of 0.0063, or a 0.53 percent rise.

USD/CHF (US Dollar / Swiss Franc): The Swiss Franc added 0.0058, or 0.64 percent to 0.9152.

AUD/USD (Australian Dollar / US Dollar): The Australian Dollar strengthened sharply against the greenback, setting around 0.6423, for a gain of 0.0071, or 1.13 percent rise.

NZD/USD (New Zealand Dollar / US Dollar): The New Zealand Dollar also saw gains against the dollar, with the NZD/USD pair rising 0.63 percent to 0.5959.

Global Stock Markets Close with Positive Bias

On Thursday, global stock markets saw a mixed performance, with some indices posting gains while others faced losses, however, as with the U.S. gainers outranked losers. Here's a roundup of the latest world stock market quotes for the day:

CANADA

S&P/TSX Composite Index (Canada): In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite index closed at 19,590.74, marking a gain of 154.76 points, or 0.80 percent.

UNITED KINGDOM

FTSE 100 (UK): The FTSE 100 index closed at 7,601.85, recording a modest increase of 8.63 points, which translates to a rise of 0.11 percent.

EUROPE

DAX PERFORMANCE-INDEX (Germany): In Germany, the DAX PERFORMANCE-INDEX ended the day at 15,323.50, surging by 106.05 points, equivalent to a gain of 0.70 percent.

CAC 40 (France): France's CAC 40 closed at 7,116.24 Thursday, posting an increase of 44.45 points, or 0.63 percent.

ESTX 50 PR.EUR (Eurozone): In the Eurozone, the ESTX 50 PR.EUR closed at 4,161.56, marking an increase of 29.88 points, or 0.72 percent.

Euronext 100 Index (Eurozone): The Euronext 100 Index also saw gains, closing at 1,317.92, up by 5.79 points, or 0.44 percent.

RUSSIA

BEL 20 (Belgium): Belgium's BEL 20 index closed Thursday at 3,519.78, posting a minor decrease of 0.74 points, or 0.02 percent.

MOEX Russia Index (Russia): The MOEX Russia Index ended at 2,222.51, showing a decrease of 4.14 points, or 0.19 percent.

ASIA

Nikkei 225 (Japan): On the other side of the globe, the Nikkei 225 in Japan faced a decline, closing at 31,872.52, down by 499.38 points or 1.54 percent.

HANG SENG INDEX (Hong Kong): Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also experienced a downturn, closing at 17,373.03, marking a decrease of 238.84 points, or 1.36 percent.

SSE Composite Index (China): The SSE Composite Index in China showed slight gains Thursday, closing at 3,110.48, up by 3.16 points, or 0.10 percent, with a trading volume of 2.158 billion shares.

Shenzhen Index (China): In addition, the Shenzhen Index also had a marginal increase, closing at 10,109.53, up by 5.20 points, or 0.05 percent, with a trading volume of 312.289 million shares.

STI Index (Singapore): Singapore's STI Index experienced a slight increase, closing at 3,206.99, up by 6.96 points, or 0.22 percent.

S&P BSE SENSEX (India): India's S&P BSE SENSEX faced a notable decline, closing at 65,508.32, down by 610.37 points, or 0.92 percent.

NIFTY 50 (India): India's NIFTY 50 faced a notable decline, closing at 19,523.55, down by 192.90 points, or 0.98 percent.

IDX COMPOSITE (Indonesia): Indonesia's IDX COMPOSITE posted gains Thursday, closing at 6,937.83, up by 14.03 points, or 0.20 percent.

FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (Malaysia): Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI closed at 1,440.11, down by 5.44 points, or 0.38 percent.

KOSPI Composite Index (South Korea): South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index ended at 2,465.07, up by 2.10 points, or 0.09 percent, with a trading volume of 366,241 shares.

TSEC weighted index (Taiwan): Taiwan's TSEC weighted index experienced gains, closing at 16,353.74, up by 43.38 points, or 0.27 percent.

OCEANIA

ALL ORDINARIES (Australia): Australia's ALL ORDINARIES index closed Thursday at 7,222.50, down by 7.30 points, or 0.10 percent.

S&P/ASX 200 (Australia): Australia's S&P/ASX 200 faced a small decrease, closing at 7,024.80, down by 5.50 points, or 0.08 percent.

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS (New Zealand): New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS closed at 11,178.03, marking a decrease of 138.78 points, or 1.23 percent.

AFRICA

Top 40 USD Net TRI Index (South Africa): South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index experienced notable gains Thursday, closing at 3,761.52, up by 33.74 points, or 0.91 percent.

MIDDLE EAST

TA-125 (Israel): Israel's TA-125 closed at 1,874.44, up by 4.12 points, or 0.22 percent.

EGX 30 Price Return Index (Egypt): In Egypt, the EGX 30 Price Return Index closed at 20,174.30, down by 180.60 points, or 0.89 percent, with a trading volume of 171.055 million shares.