Increase In Oil Prices Contributes To Strength On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks continue to see notable strength in mid-day trading on Thursday, partly offsetting the steep losses posted in the previous session. Buying interest has remained relatively subdued, however, and the major averages remain well off their recent highs.

Currently, the major averages remain firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 209.15 points or 1.3 percent at 16,360.56, the Nasdaq is up 51.62 points or 1.1 percent at 4,577.69 and the S&P 500 is up 23.42 points or 1.2 percent at 1,913.70.

The strength on Wall Street is partly due to an increase by the price of crude oil, which is climbing further off the twelve-year closing low set on Tuesday.

After inching up $0.04 to $30.48 a barrel on Wednesday, crude oil for February delivery is currently climbing $0.66 to $31.14 a barrel.

Traders have also reacted positively to quarterly results from JP Morgan (JPM), with the financial giant advancing by 1.9 percent.

JP Morgan reported fourth quarter net earnings that rose 10 percent year-over-year and exceeded analyst estimates. The company's revenues for the quarter also exceeded expectations.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report before the start of trading showing that initial jobless claims unexpectedly increased in the week ended January 9th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 284,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 277,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 275,000.

A separate Labor Department report showed a significant drop in U.S. import prices in the month of December, although the decrease was not quite as steep as economists had anticipated.

Among individual stocks, shares of Infosys (INFY) have moved sharply higher after the Indian software services exporter raised its full year revenue growth guidance after reporting third quarter earnings that met analyst estimates.

Filtration systems and packaging materials manufacturer Clarcor (CLC) is also posting a strong gain after reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings.

On the other hand, shares of GoPro (GPRO) have seen a steep drop after the action camera maker provided disappointing fourth quarter guidance and announced a 7 percent reduction in its workforce.

Sector News

Energy stocks continue to see considerable strength in mid-day trading, benefiting from the increase by the price of crude oil.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index is up by 2.9 percent after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in over five years.

Bargain hunting is also contributing to significant strength among railroad stocks, with the Dow Jones Railroads Index bouncing 1.6 percent off yesterday's nearly three-year closing low.

Steel, health care, telecom, and software stocks have also moved notably higher, while gold stocks are bucking the uptrend amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal.

With gold for February delivery sliding $5 to $1,082.10 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has plunged 4.2 percent to its lowest intraday level in almost a month.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region came under pressure on Thursday, although Chinese stocks bucked the downtrend. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.6 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest weakness, giving back some ground following recent strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.8 basis points at 2.084 percent.