Stocks Kick Off Final Trading Day Of 2014 On Upbeat Note - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved modestly higher in early trading on Wednesday, regaining some ground following the pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the upside, although the Dow and the S&P 500 remain below their record highs.

Currently, the major averages are posting slim gains, near their highs for the young session. The Dow is up 39.76 points or 0.2 percent at 18,022.83, the Nasdaq is up 17.53 points or 0.4 percent at 4,794.97 and the S&P 500 is up 3.20 points or 0.2 percent at 2,083.55.

The modest strength on Wall Street may partly reflect some window dressing on the final trading day of the year, although buying interest has remained relatively subdued.

Many traders are likely to remain on the sidelines on the day ahead of tonight's New Year's Eve festivities and the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday.

Biotechnology stocks have shown a strong move to the upside in early trading, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.6 percent. ImmunoGen (IMGN) and Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) are posting notable gains.

Early strength has also emerged among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The gain has lifted the index to a new twelve-year high.

Meanwhile, oil service stocks have come under pressure along with the price of crude oil. With crude for February delivery sliding $1.11 to $53.01 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 1.1 percent.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors recently released a report showing a bigger than expected increase in pending home sales in the month of November.

NAR said its pending home sales index rose 0.8 percent to 104.8 in November from a downwardly revised 104.0 in October. Economists had been expecting the index to increase by about 0.5 percent.

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.

The Labor Department released a separate report before the start of trading showing a bigger than expected rebound in initial jobless claims in the week ended December 27th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 298,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level of 281,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 290,000.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday, although several markets were closed for the day. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the European markets saw some strength in an abbreviated session. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while the French CAC 40 has advanced by 0.6 percent. The German market was closed on the day.

In the bond market, treasuries are moving modestly higher, extending a recent upward trend. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.6 basis points at 2.174 percent.