U.S. Stocks Mostly Higher, Extending Last Friday’s Rebound

Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, extending the significant rebound seen during last Friday’s session. Buying interest has remained somewhat subdued, however, limiting the upside for the major averages.

Currently, the Dow is up 216.35 points or 0.5 percent at 41,704.54 and the S&P 500 is up 19.57 points or 0.4 percent at 5,658.51. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, on the other hand, has bucked the uptrend and dipped 9.71 points or 0.1 percent to 17,744.37.

The strength on Wall Street comes as traders continue to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness, which saw the S&P 500 plunge into correction territory last Thursday.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to the Commerce Department’s report on U.S. retail sales in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.2 percent in February after tumbling by a revised 1.2 percent in January.

While the uptick by retail sales missed expectations for an increase of 0.7 percent, traders seem relieved that the data wasn’t even worse.

However, traders seem reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed is almost universally expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will look to the accompanying statement as well as officials’ latest projections for clues about the outlook for rates.

The Fed may also address President Donald Trump’s new tariffs amid concerns about the economic impact of the trade policies.

Sector News

Gold stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.1 percent to a nearly five-month intraday high.

The strength among gold stocks comes amid a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery inching up $4.50 to $3,005.60 an ounce.

Considerable strength is also visible among commercial real estate stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index.

Pharmaceutical, brokerage and utilities stocks are also seeing notable 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 Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.8 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength in reaction to the retail sales data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.1 basis points at 4.287 percent.

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