Major Averages Posting Strong Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher in early trading on Monday, stocks have seen some further upside over the course of the trading session. The strong advance on the day is extending the upward trend seen earlier this month.

Oil service stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.6 percent. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in almost two months.

A notable increase by the price of crude oil is contributing to the strength in the oil service sector, with crude for April delivery climbing $1.12 to $103.32 a barrel.

The increase by the price of crude oil is also contributing to strength among oil producer stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Oil Index.

Considerable strength has also emerged among electronic storage stocks, resulting in a 2.2 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Datalink (DTLK) and Imation (IMN) are posting notable gains.

Natural gas, tobacco, defense, and financial stocks are also seeing significant strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages are currently just off their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 185.22 points or 1.2 percent at 16,288.51, the Nasdaq is up 45.71 points or 1.1 percent at 4,309.12 and the S&P 500 is up 21.64 points or 1.2 percent at 1,857.89.