Stocks Move Modestly Higher, Adding To Recent Gains - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions, stocks have moved moderately higher in early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the Dow reaching a new record intraday high.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains, near their highs for the young session. The Dow is up 40.37 points or 0.2 percent at 18,064.54, the Nasdaq is up 17.62 points or 0.4 percent at 4,783.05 and the S&P 500 is up 3.34 points or 0.2 percent at 2,085.51.

The early strength on Wall Street is partly due to the release of a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended December 20th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 280,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 289,000, while economists had expected claims to inch up to 290,000.

With the unexpected drop, jobless claims slid to their lowest level since hitting 278,000 in the week ended November 1st.

Stocks also continue to benefit from the recent upward momentum, which helped the Dow close above 18,000 for the first time on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 also ended the previous session at a record closing high, while the Nasdaq is back near its best levels since 2000.

Nonetheless, overall trading activity has remained somewhat subdued amid the holiday-shortened Christmas Eve session.

Biotechnology stocks have moved sharply higher in early trading, regaining some ground after ending the previous session sharply lower. After tumbling by 4.4 percent on Tuesday, the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index is up by 2.2 percent.

Airline, utilities, and healthcare stocks are also seeing early strength, while energy stocks are moving to the downside along with the price of crude oil.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.2 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day, with several markets closed for the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are moving modestly lower, extending the notable drop seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.3 basis points at 2.28 percent.