Stocks Remain Mostly Positive After Early Upward Move - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After moving to the upside early in the session, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Thursday. The major averages are adding to the strong gains posted on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq reaching a new record intraday high.

Currently, the major averages are off their best levels of the day but still firmly positive. The Dow is up 111.73 points or 0.6 percent at 18,405.43, the Nasdaq is up 31.79 points or 0.6 percent at 5,326.98 and the S&P 500 is up 11.13 points or 0.5 percent at 2,174.25.

The strength on Wall Street comes as traders continue to react positively to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement Wednesday afternoon.

While the Fed left interest rates unchanged as expected, the central bank signaled that a rate hike is likely before the end of the year.

The statement from the Fed said the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened but that most members decided to wait for additional data for "the time being."

Reflecting division within the committee, Kansas City Fed President Esther George, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren voted to raise rates by a quarter point.

The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at the November meeting due to the subsequent president election, but many analysts are targeting the December meeting for a rate hike.

Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off some disappointing U.S. economic data, with the reports potentially seen as old news in light of the forward-looking nature of the Fed.

The National Association of Realtors released a report this morning showing an unexpected decrease in existing home sales in the month of August.

The report said existing home sales slid 0.9 percent to an annual rate of 5.33 million in August after tumbling by 3.4 percent to a downwardly revised 5.38 million in July.

A separate report from the Conference Board showed that its index of leading economic indicators edged down by 0.2 percent in August compared to expectations for a 0.1 percent uptick.

Sector News

Despite the disappointing housing data, housing stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index has surged up by 1.6 percent, continuing to regain ground after ending Tuesday's trading at its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Forest products company Weyerhaeuser (WY) is posting a notable gain after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stock with a Buy rating.

Significant strength is also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Spirit Airlines (SAVE) is turning in one of the sector's best performances after announcing that it is adding service to Las Vegas from the Akron-Canton Airport.

Commercial real estate, steel, telecom, and networking 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 to the upside on Thursday, although the Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

The major European markets moved sharply higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both soared by 2.3 percent.

In the bond, treasuries are extending the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 5.8 basis points at 1.610 percent.