U.S. Stocks Remain Firmly Positive After Early Upward Move
After moving to the upside early in the session, stocks continue to turn in a strong performance in afternoon trading on Wednesday. With the upward move, the major averages have more than offset the losses posted in the previous session.
In recent trading, the major averages reached new highs for the session. The Nasdaq is up 154.68 points or 1.3 percent at 11,870.76, the S&P 500 is up 40.71 points or 1.0 percent at 4,011.98 and the Dow is up 211.94 points or 0.7 percent at 32,606.19.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a rebound by technology stocks, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq regaining ground after closing lower for two straight sessions.
Semiconductor stocks have helped lead the recovery in the tech sector, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.6 percent.
The index closed lower in the three previous sessions after reaching its best closing level in almost a year last Thursday.
Micron (MU) is posting a standout gain after the chipmaker reported weaker than expected fiscal second quarter results but executives predicted a strong 2025 due to a boost from artificial intelligence.
Considerable strength is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Outside the tech sector, airline stocks have shown a significant move to the upside, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index jumping by 1.9 percent.
Commercial real estate, banking and natural gas stocks are also seeing notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
The markets are also benefiting from a continued easing of concerns about contagion from the recent turmoil in the banking sector.
U.S.-listed shares of UBS Group (UBS) have moved sharply higher after the Swiss lender announced Sergio Ermotti will return as CEO to steer its massive takeover of Credit Suisse (CS).
In the U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing pending home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly increased for the third straight month in February.
NAR said its pending home sales index climbed by 0.8 percent to 83.2 in February after spiking by 8.1 percent to 82.5 in January. Economists had expected pending home sales to slump by 3.0 percent.
The pending home sales index reached its highest level since hitting 88.3 last August but was still down by 21.1 percent compared to a year ago.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index spiked by 2.1 percent.
The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has shot up by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 3.562 percent.
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