Major Averages Posting Strong Gains In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved sharply higher in early trading on Monday, regaining some ground following the sell-off seen last Friday. The major averages have climbed firmly into positive territory but remain below their recent highs.

The early strength on Wall Street comes amid news of additional Chinese stimulus after reports about new trading regulations in China contributed to the sharp pullback in the previous session.

On Sunday, the People's Bank of China lowered the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 100 basis points to 18.5 percent.

The reduction marked the second cut this year and came after the Chinese economy logged its weakest growth in six years.

Buying interest has also been generated in reaction to the latest batch of earnings news, with financial giant Morgan Stanley (MS) moving higher after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Utilities stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside in early trading, driving the Dow Jones Utilities Average up by 1.9 percent. Exelon (EXC), FirstEnergy (FE), and Dominion Resources (D) are posting notable gains.

Railroad, trucking, telecom and software stocks are also seeing considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, holding on to strong gains. The Dow is up 224.25 points or 1.3 percent at 18,050.55, the Nasdaq is up 43.57 points or 0.9 percent at 4,975.38 and the S&P 500 is up 18.65 points or 0.9 percent at 2,099.83.