Stocks extended yesterday’s rally early in the session on Wednesday and remain mostly positive in mid-day trading. With the continued upward move, the major averages have more than offset the sell-off seen on Monday.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 274.07 points or 0.8 percent at 34,786.06, the Nasdaq is up 70.88 points or 0.5 percent at 14,569.76 and the S&P 500 is up 28.82 points or 0.7 percent at 4,351.88.
The continued strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from several big-name companies.
Dow components Coca-Cola (KO) and Verizon (VZ) have moved notably higher after reporting better than expected quarterly results and raising their full-year guidance.
Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is posting a more modest gain after reporting second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates.
On the other hand, shares of Netflix (NFLX) have moved to the downside after the streaming giant reported weaker than expected second quarter earnings and forecast subscriber growth in the current quarter below analyst estimates.
Energy stocks continue to see substantial strength, as the price of crude oil continues to recover from the steep drop seen on Monday.
Crude for August delivery is soaring $2.95 to $70.15 a barrel despite the release of a report showing an unexpected weekly increase in crude oil inventories.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is up by 5.9 percent, the NYSE Arca Oil Index is up by 4 percent and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index is up by 2.6 percent.
Significant strength also remains visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index continues to rebound after ending Monday’s trading at a five-month closing low.
Steel, semiconductor and financial stocks are also seeing notable strength in mid-day trading, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all showed strong moves upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.4 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index surged up by 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the pullback 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 up by 7.8 basis points at 1.287 percent.
Business News
U.S. Stocks Remain Mostly Positive In Mid-Day Trading
2021-07-21 15:57:14
