Major Averages Posting Modest Gains In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions, stocks have moved moderately higher in early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the Dow reaching a new record intraday high.

The early strength on Wall Street is partly due to the release of a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended December 20th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 280,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 289,000, while economists had expected claims to inch up to 290,000.

Stocks also continue to benefit from the recent upward momentum, which helped the Dow close above 18,000 for the first time on Tuesday.

Biotechnology stocks have moved sharply higher in early trading, regaining some ground after ending the previous session sharply lower. After tumbling by 4.4 percent on Tuesday, the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index is up by 2.2 percent.

Airline, utilities, and healthcare stocks are also seeing early strength, while energy stocks are moving to the downside along with the price of crude oil.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains, near their highs for the young session. The Dow is up 40.37 points or 0.2 percent at 18,064.54, the Nasdaq is up 17.62 points or 0.4 percent at 4,783.05 and the S&P 500 is up 3.34 points or 0.2 percent at 2,085.51.