Major Averages Remain Firmly Positive In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Tuesday. With the gains on the day, the major averages continued to recover from the sell-off that was seen last week.

Oil service stocks are seeing substantial strength, benefiting from an increase by the price of crude oil. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index has surged up by 2.8 percent.

Transocean (RIG), Nabors Industries (NBR), and Helmerich & Payne (HP) are turning in some of the oil service sector's best performances on the day.

Banking stocks have also shown a strong move to the upside, resulting in a 2.6 percent gain by the Dow Jones Banks Index. Comerica (CMA) and Regions Financial (RF) are posting standout gains.

Considerable strength also remains visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The index is rebounding after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in well over a month.

Telecom, electronic storage, and brokerage stocks are also turning in strong performances, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Currently, the major averages are off their highs for the session but still firmly positive. The Dow is up 189.48 points or 1.1 percent at 17,557.98, the Nasdaq is up 47.07 points or 1 percent at 4,999.30 and the S&P 500 is up 22.52 points or 1.1 percent at 2,044.46.