Stocks Remain Firmly Positive Following Early Jump - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks continue to see notable strength in mid-day trading on Tuesday. Buying interest has waned somewhat, although the major averages continue to post significant gains.

Currently, the major averages are off their best levels of the day but still firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 154.43 points or 0.9 percent at 17,294.67, the Nasdaq is up 72.42 points or 1.6 percent at 4,666.86 and the S&P 500 is up 22.06 points or 1.1 percent at 2,022.60.

The strength on Wall Street comes amid bargain hunting, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels following the recent sell-off.

The steep drop seen in the two sessions following the Brexit vote dragged the Dow and the S&P 500 down to their lowest closing levels in over three months, while the Nasdaq hit a four-month closing low.

Nonetheless, lingering concerns about the economic impact of the Brexit have prevented the markets from recovering all of the lost ground.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing that economic activity increased faster than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2016.

The Commerce Department said the pace of growth in gross domestic product was upwardly revised to 1.1 percent from the previous estimate of 0.8 percent.

The revised GDP growth in the first quarter compares to the 1.4 percent jump seen in the fourth quarter and the 1.0 percent increase expected by economists.

A separate report from the Conference Board showed a much bigger than expected improvement in consumer confidence in the month of June.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 98.0 in June from a revised 92.4 in May. Economists had been expecting the index to inch up to 93.3.

Sector News

Most of the major sectors have moved to notably higher on the day, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Biotechnology stocks are posting particularly strong gains, resulting in a 3.7 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The gain by the index comes after it ended the previous session at its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT), Novavax (NVAX), and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) are turning in some of the biotech sector's best performances.

Considerable strength has also emerged among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 3.1 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The index is bouncing off a more than one-month closing low.

Steel stocks have also shown a substantial move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 3.1 percent. Mechel (MTL) is posting a standout gain, surging up by 9 percent.

Electronic storage, airline, semiconductor and banking stocks are also seeing significant strength in mid-day trading.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved sharply higher on the day. While the German DAX Index surged up by 1.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both soared by 2.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction despite the rally on Wall Street. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 1.465 percent.