U.S. Stocks See Further Upside After Early Rebound

After moving notably higher early in the session, stocks have seen further upside over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages have all climbed firmly into positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a particularly strong gain.

Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 221.23 points or 0.7 percent at 30,203.85, the Nasdaq is up 302.96 points or 2.3 percent at 13,373.66 and the S&P 500 is up 55.64 points or 1.5 percent at 3,769.88.

The rebound on Wall Street comes as traders look to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels after the markets saw their biggest weekly decline since October.

Last week, the Nasdaq sank by 3.5 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both slumped by 3.3 percent. The Dow ended last Friday’s trading at its lowest closing level in well over a month.

Traders continue to keep an eye on heavily-shorted stocks like GameStop (GME) and AMC Entertainment, which have seen considerable volatility amid speculative trading by retail investors.

Currently, share of GameStop are currently tumbling by 20.5 percent, while shares of AMC are up by 7.3 percent.

The markets have largely shrugged off a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity slowed more than expected in January.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI declined to 58.7 in January from a downwardly revised 60.5 in December.

While a reading above 50 indicates continued growth in the manufacturing sector, economists had expected the index to show a more modest drop to 60.0.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing U.S. construction spending increased by slightly more than expected in the month of December.

Sector News

Software stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index up by 3.3 percent to a record intraday high.

Considerable strength also remains visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent spike by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Gold stocks also continue to see significant strength in mid-day trading, resulting in a 2.4 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The rally by gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for February delivery climbing $15 to $1,862.30 an ounce.

Networking, brokerage and steel stocks are also seeing notable 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 moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.6 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged up by 2.2 percent.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index spiked by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are regaining ground after moving notably lower over the two previous sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.7 basis points at 1.066 percent.

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