Major Averages Clinging To Modest Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - While buying interest has remained somewhat subdued, stocks continue to see modest strength in mid-day trading on Wednesday. The Dow has pulled back off its new record intraday high but remains in positive territory.

After moving sharply higher in early trading, housing stocks continue to see significant strength on the day. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index is up by 1.8 percent.

Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) is turning in one of the sector's best performances after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

The strength among housing stocks also comes following the release of a report from the National Association of Home Builders showing that homebuilder confidence jumped to a nearly nine-year high in September.

Considerable strength also remains visible among railroad stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones Railroads Index. With the gain, the index has reached a new record high.

Steel stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day, with U.S. Steel (X) leading the sector higher after saying it expects its second quarter adjusted earnings to be significantly above the consensus estimate.

Most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves amid uncertainty ahead of the Fed's monetary policy announcement.

Currently, the major averages are clinging to slim gains. The Dow is up 19.23 points or 0.1 percent at 17,151.20, the Nasdaq is up 7.56 points or 0.2 percent at 4,560.32 and the S&P 500 is up 1.41 points or 0.1 percent at 2,000.39.