Stocks Fluctuate But Manage To Close Firmly Positive - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but largely managed to maintain a positive bias on the day. With the upward move, the Dow ended the session at its best closing level in well over a month.

The major averages finished the session firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 122.10 points or 0.7 percent to 16,912.29, the Nasdaq advanced 42.79 points or 0.9 percent to 4,791.15 and the S&P 500 rose 15.91 points or 0.8 percent to 1,995.83.

The higher close on Wall Street was partly in reaction to strength in the overseas markets, as stocks in Asia and Europe moved mostly higher.

Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as traders seemed somewhat reluctant to make any significant moves amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

Investors were also looking ahead to the release of quarterly results from Alcoa (AA) after the close of trading on Thursday, which marks the unofficial start of earnings season.

A pullback by the price of crude oil also limited the upside for the markets, with crude for November delivery sliding $0.72 to $47.81 a barrel after rising as high as $49.71 a barrel earlier in the day.

The downturn by the price of crude came after a report showed a bigger than expected increase in crude oil inventories last week.

Among individual stocks, shares of Twitter (TWTR) moved sharply higher on news Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment firm have increased their combined stake in the social media giant to more than 5 percent.

Spirits maker Constellation Brands (STZ) also moved to the upside after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings and raising its full-year guidance.

On the other hand, shares of Yum Brands (YUM) showed a steep drop after the restaurant operator reported weaker than expected third quarter results and cut its full-year forecast.

Sector News

Steel stocks saw substantial strength, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 4.1 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in three weeks.

Rio Tinto (RIO), Mechel (MT), and AK Steel (AKS) turned in some of the steel sector's best performances on the day.

Considerable strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) and Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) posted standout gains.

Railroad, airline, housing, and brokerage stocks also saw significant strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw further upside during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 3.1 percent.

The major European markets also close higher but well off their best levels of the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries moved moderately lower, offsetting the modest uptick seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.7 basis points to 2.062 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Thursday may be impacted by a report on weekly jobless claims as well as the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.