Stocks Remain Firmly Positive In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(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.

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.

The strength on Wall Street comes as stocks continue to recover from yesterday's initial drop, which analysts suggested was overdone.

Many traders remain on the sidelines, however, with the upcoming New Year's Day holiday keeping trading activity relatively subdued.

On the U.S. economic front, Standard & Poor's released a report showing that home prices in major metropolitan areas rose more than expected in October.

The report said the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index climbed 0.8 percent in October after rising by a revised 0.5 percent in September.

Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.6 percent, which would have matched the increase originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected monthly increase in prices led to an acceleration in the annual rate of price growth, which ticked up to 5.5 percent in October from 5.4 percent in September.

A separate report from the Conference Board showed that consumer confidence rebounded by more than expected in December.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed to 96.5 in December from an upwardly revised 92.6 in November.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to rise to 93.5 from the 90.4 originally reported for the previous month.

Sector News

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.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.8 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have come under pressure after ending the previous session moderately higher. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.8 basis points at 2.273 percent.