Optimism About Greece Contributes To Strength On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After showing a lack of direction throughout much of the two previous sessions, stocks have moved mostly higher in early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have climbed firmly into positive territory, with the Nasdaq reaching its best intraday level in over a month.

In the past few minutes, the major averages have pulled back off their highs, but they are holding on to strong gains. The Dow is up 139.59 points or 0.8 percent at 18,151.53, the Nasdaq is up 34.32 points or 0.7 percent at 5,110.84 and the S&P 500 is up 10.06 points or 0.5 percent at 2,119.66.

The early strength on Wall Street has been partly attributed to optimism that Greece will finally reach an agreement with its international creditors.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to meet with senior European officials in Brussels to be presented with what is said to be the final proposal to break the stalemate.

Traders are also reacting to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing a notable re-acceleration in the pace of private sector job growth in the month of May.

ADP said the private sector added 201,000 jobs in May following a downwardly revised increase of 165,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected an increase of about 200,000 jobs.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by more than expected in the month of April.

The report said the trade deficit narrowed to $40.9 billion in April from a revised $50.6 billion in March, while economists had expected the deficit to drop to $44.0 billion.

The narrower than expected deficit reflected a 3.3 percent decrease in the value of imports as well as a 1 percent increase in the value of exports.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management recently released a report showing that its index of activity in the service sector fell to its lowest level in over a year in May.

The ISM said its non-manufacturing index dropped to 55.7 in May after climbing to a five-month high of 57.8 in April.

A reading above 50 indicates continued growth in the service sector, but economists had expected the index to show a much more modest drop to a reading of 57.2.

With the much bigger than expected decrease, the non-manufacturing index fell to its lowest level since April of 2014.

Trucking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside in early trading, driving the Dow Jones Trucking Index up by 2.6 percent. YRC Worldwide (YRCW) and C.H. Robinson (CHRW) are posting standout gains.

Notable strength has also emerged among financial stocks, with the Dow Jones Banks Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index climbing by 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Software, steel, and networking stocks are also seeing early strength, while utilities stocks are extending the drop seen in the previous session.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.3 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index slumped by 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has risen by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are jumping by 1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the sell-off seen in the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is surging up 6.2 basis points to 2.328 percent.