Stocks Move Mostly Higher Following Upbeat Economic Data - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders reacting positively to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, stocks have moved mostly higher in early trading on Friday. The major averages have all moved to the upside, adding to the gains posted in the two previous sessions.

Currently, the major averages are posting moderate gains. The Dow is up 48.32 points or 0.3 percent at 16,745.61, the Nasdaq is up 21.70 points or 0.5 percent at 4,603.90 and the S&P 500 is up 7.72 points or 0.4 percent at 1,959.42.

The early strength on Wall Street comes following the release of some key economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing that economic growth slowed by less previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product increased by 1.0 percent in the fourth quarter, reflecting an upward revision from the initially reported 0.7 percent growth.

The upward revision came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the pace of GDP growth to be downwardly revised to 0.4 percent.

Nonetheless, the fourth quarter GDP growth still reflects a slowdown compared to the 2.0 percent increase in the third quarter.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that personal income and spending both increased by 0.5 percent in January, exceeding estimates.

The University of Michigan also released a report showing a smaller than initially estimated drop in consumer sentiment in February.

The price of crude oil has moved higher in reaction to the data, contributing to some of the buying interest on Wall Street.

Crude for April delivery is currently rising $0.54 to $33.61 a barrel after climbing $0.92 to $33.07 a barrel on Thursday.

The increase by the price of crude oil has contributed to considerable strength among oil service stocks, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surging up by 4.4 percent.

Electronic storage, brokerage, and railroad stocks are also seeing significant strength in early trading, while airline, gold, and utilities stocks have moved to the downside.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 2.5 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has surged up by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have come under pressure on the heels of the upbeat economic data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 6.5 basis points at 1.762 percent.