Major Averages Hovering In Positive Territory In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - With traders reacting positively to a pair of key U.S. economic reports, stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. The gains are extending a recent upward trend by the markets, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq reaching a new fourteen-year intraday high.

The continued strength on Wall Street comes following the release of two closely watched reports showing tame consumer price inflation and a sharp jump in new residential construction.

Housing stocks have shown a significant move to the upside on the heels of the upbeat housing starts data. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index has surged up by 1.6 percent, reaching its best intraday level in almost a month.

Ryland Group (RYL) and Lennar (LEN) are turning in two of the housing sector's best performances, advancing by 3.1 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.

Considerable strength has also emerged among retail sales, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones Retail Index. Aeropostale (ARO) is posting a standout gain after rehiring Julian Geiger as CEO.

Natural gas, oil service, and utilities stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest upward moves.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering in positive territory. The Dow is up 66.97 points or 0.4 percent at 16,905.71, the Nasdaq is up 8.99 point or 0.2 percent at 4,517.30 and the S&P 500 is up 7.26 points or 0.4 percent at 1,979.00.