Major Averages Remain Firmly Positive In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher in early trading, stocks continue to see significant strength in mid-day trading on Tuesday. The gains on the day have more than offset the modest losses posted in the previous session.

Telecom stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances on the day, resulting in a 1.4 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Telecom Index.

Within the telecom sector, Qualcomm (QCOM) and BCE Inc. (BCE) are posting standout gains, climbing by 2.2 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Significant strength is also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in over four months.

Health care, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical stocks are also seeing considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

In recent trading, the major averages have pulled back off their best levels, but they remain firmly positive. The Dow is up 151.96 points or 0.9 percent at 17,680.23, the Nasdaq is up 47.77 points or 1 percent at 5,088.76 and the S&P 500 is up 16.62 points or 0.8 percent at 2,073.12.