Stocks Regain Ground Amid Rebound In Oil Prices - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly higher in early trading on Wednesday, regaining some ground after closing lower in each of the two previous sessions. The major averages have all moved back to the upside, with the Dow jumping by nearly 200 points.

Currently, the major averages are all in positive territory, although the Nasdaq is underperforming its counterparts. While the Nasdaq is up 6.60 points or 0.1 percent at 5,104.85, the Dow is up 191.08 points or 1.1 percent at 17,759.08 and the S&P 500 is up 15.61 points or 0.8 percent at 2,079.20.

The early strength on Wall Street is partly due to a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, which is rebounding following recent weakness.

Crude for January delivery has surged up $1.27 to $38.78 a barrel after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in well over six years.

The increase by the price of crude oil comes following the release of a report from the Energy Information Administration showing that crude oil inventories tumbled by 3.6 million barrels in the week ended December 4th.

The decrease marked the first drop in crude oil stockpiles in nearly three months and compared to expectations for an increase of about 252,000 barrels.

Energy stocks are rebounding along with the price of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index posting a particularly strong 4.2 percent gain.

Significant strength is also visible among chemical stocks, as reflected by the 4.6 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones Chemicals Index. DuPont (DD) and Dow Chemical (DOW) are posting standout gains amid reports the companies are in merger talks.

Steel, gold, railroad and trucking stocks are also seeing considerable strength in early trading following recent weakness.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has risen by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index have both edged up by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside, adding to the modest drop seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.4 basis points at 2.262 percent.