Stocks Show Significant Move To The Upside - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Monday, adding to the gains posted in the previous session. With the upward move, the major averages further offset the steep losses seen early last week.

The major averages ended the day sharply higher. The Dow soared 410.37 points or 1.7 percent to 24,601.27, the Nasdaq jumped 107.47 points or 1.6 percent to 6,981.96 and the S&P 500 surged up 34.65 points or 1.4 percent to 2,656.00.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness, with the major averages climbing further off the two-month lows set last Thursday.

The major averages added to the gains posted following a volatile session last Friday but remain well off their recent record highs.

Trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

Economic data is likely to attract attention in the coming days, with reports on producer and consumer prices likely to be in focus amid recent concerns about rising inflation.

Reaction to reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts, and homebuilder confidence may also impact trading.

Sector News

Gold stocks saw substantial strength on the day, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 3.4 percent. The index bounced off its lowest closing level in over a year.

The rebound by gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, as gold for April delivery climbed $10.70 to $1,326.40 an ounce.

Significant strength was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The strength in the sector comes as the price of crude oil for March delivery inched up $0.09 to $59.29 a barrel.

Tobacco, chemical, telecom and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while South Korea's Kospi advanced by 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved sharply higher on the day. While the German DAX Index surged up by 1.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both jumped by 1.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved to the downside after seeing some early volatility. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed by 2.8 basis points to 2.857 percent.

Looking Ahead

Amid another quiet day on the U.S. economic front, trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to the latest batch of earnings news.

PepsiCo (PEP) and Under Armour (UAA) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results before the start of tomorrow's trading.