Major Averages Pull Back Off Highs But Hold On To Gains

(RTTNews) - After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks have given back some ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages have pulled back off their best levels of the day but remain in positive territory.

The early strength on Wall Street was partly due to bargain hunting following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session, with the Dow regaining some ground after ending Tuesday's trading at its lowest closing level in almost a month.

Buying interest waned not long after the open, however, with traders seemingly reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.

The minutes of the April meeting may shed some additional light on Fed officials' outlook for the economy and monetary policy.

Despite the strength being shown by the broader markets in mid-day trading, most of the major sector indices are showing only modest moves.

While some strength is visible among banking, pharmaceutical and railroad stocks, gold stocks have moved to the downside along with the price of the precious metal.

In recent trading, the major averages have moved roughly sideways, holding on to notable gains. The Dow is up 117.07 points or 0.7 percent at 16,491.38, the Nasdaq is up 14.41 points or 0.4 percent at 4,111.30 and the S&P 500 is up 8.43 points or 0.5 percent at 1,881.26.