Major Averages Hovering In Positive Territory In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After turning in a relatively lackluster performance over the two previous sessions, stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. The gains on the day have lifted the major averages to their best intraday levels in over two months.

Gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 4.6 percent. Despite the strong gain, the index remains stuck in a recent trading range.

The rally by gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery climbing $14.70 to $1,180.50 an ounce.

Considerable strength is also visible among energy stocks, which are moving higher along with the price of crude oil. Crude oil for December delivery is currently surging up $2.50 to $45.70 a barrel.

The price of crude oil spiked higher after a government report showed decreases in gasoline and distillate fuel inventories in the week ended October 23rd.

Networking, electronic storage, and brokerage stocks are also turning in strong performances on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Meanwhile, trucking stocks are bucking the uptrend, resulting in a 2.4 percent drop by the Dow Jones Trucking Index. Adding to the steep loss posted in the previous session, the index has fallen to its lowest levels in almost a month.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 106.19 points or 0.6 percent at 17,687.62, the Nasdaq is up 32.93 points or 0.7 percent at 5,063.08 and the S&P 500 is up 13.82 points or 0.7 percent at 2,079.71.