Stocks Adding To Last Week's Strong Gains In Morning Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks are seeing modest strength in morning trading on Monday, adding to the notable gains posted last week. The major averages have all moved to the upside, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq is outperforming its counterparts.

In recent trading, the major averages have pulled back off their best levels, but they remain in positive territory. The Dow is up 28.90 points or 0.2 percent at 18,086.55, the Nasdaq is up 23.12 points or 0.5 percent at 5,019.10 and the S&P 500 is up 2.94 points or 0.1 percent at 2,105.00.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflects the recent upward momentum for the markets, with the major averages moving higher for the sixth time in the past seven sessions.

With the recent uptrend by stocks, the Nasdaq has climbed back toward the fifteen-year closing high that it set last month.

Buying interest was also generated by some disappointing Chinese trade data, which has added to optimism about additional stimulus.

A report released by the General Administration of Customs showed that Chinese exports fell 14.6 percent year-over-year in March, belying expectations for a 9 percent increase. Imports fell a worse than expected 12.3 percent.

Subsequently, the Chinese trade surplus fell to $3.1 billion compared to the $40.1 billion surplus expected by economists.

Trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, however, with some traders staying on the sidelines amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

The economic calendar will pick up in the coming days, with traders likely to keep a close eye on reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts, and producer and consumer price inflation.

Earnings season will also pick up steam over the next few days, although many analysts expect the quarterly results to be weak.

JP Morgan (JPM), Intel (INTC), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Netflix (NFLX), Goldman Sachs (GS), American Express (AXP), and General Electric (GE) are among the big-name companies due to release their results this week.

Airline stocks are seeing significant strength on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 1.5 percent. JetBlue (JBLU) is leading the sector higher after reporting a 9.2 percent increase in passenger traffic in March compared to a year ago.

Biotechnology and internet stocks have also moved notably higher, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

Among individual stocks, shares of Netflix have moved notably after UBS upgraded its rating on the streaming video service provider's stock to Buy from Neutral.

Chip maker Qualcomm (QCOM) has also moved higher amid news activist investor Jana Partners is pressuring the company to consider a breakup and other options to revive its sagging stock price.

On the other hand, shares of Symantec (SYMC) have come under pressure following a report from Dow Jones indicating that the security software maker is exploring a sale of its Veritas software business.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed nearly flat. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 2.7 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 2.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are down by 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction amid the quiet day on the economic front. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 1.946 percent.