Stocks Move Higher Following Yesterday's Late-Day Pullback - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen late in the previous session, stocks have moved back to the upside in early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have all climbed into positive territory, although buying interest has remained somewhat subdued.

In recent trading, the major averages have pulled back off their highs for the young session, but they are currently holding on to modest gains.

The Dow is up 51.14 points or 0.3 percent at 17,926.56, the Nasdaq is up 24.92 points or 0.5 percent at 4,935.15 and the S&P 500 is up 4.81 points or 0.2 percent at 2,081.14.

Positive sentiment was generated by additional news on the merger-and-acquisition front, with Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-A) agreeing to acquire oil and gas exploration firm BG Group for nearly $70 billion in cash and stock.

Analysts have suggested that the acquisition could be the first in a series of energy sector mergers due in part to the impact of the recent drop in oil prices.

Nonetheless, traders seem somewhat reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting this afternoon.

The minutes are scheduled to be released at 2 pm ET and could shed some light on the outlook for interest rates, although it is worth noting that the meeting came before last Friday's disappointing jobs data.

Along with the Fed minutes, traders are looking ahead to the release of quarterly results from aluminum giant Alcoa (AA).

Alcoa is scheduled to release its first quarter results after the close of today's trading, marking the unofficial start of earnings season.

Analysts expect Alcoa to report first quarter earnings of $0.26 per share on revenues of $5.94 billion. A year ago, the company reported adjusted earnings of $0.09 per share on revenues of $5.45 billion.

Biotechnology stocks are turning in a strong performance, however, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index advancing by 1.2 percent. The index also moved notably higher in early trading on Tuesday before pulling back over the course of the session.

Airline, internet, and oil stocks are also seeing some early strength, while weakness has emerged among natural gas and gold stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 3.8 percent following a long Easter break.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index has fallen by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved slightly lower after moving modestly higher over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by nearly a basis point at 1.902 percent.