U.S. Stocks Rebound Into Positive Territory After Seeing Early Weakness

After moving to the downside early in the session, stocks have shown a notable turnaround over the course of morning trading on Monday. The major averages have bounced well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

Currently, the major averages are just off their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 150.46 points or 0.5 percent at 33,127.67, the Nasdaq is up 123.72 points or 1 percent at 12,458.36 and the S&P 500 is up 25.63 points or 0.6 percent at 4,157.57.

The rebound on Wall Street comes as traders pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness in the markets.

The drop seen early in the session dragged the Nasdaq down to its lowest intraday level in well over a year, while the S&P 500 also hit a nearly one-month intraday low.

Traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing growth in U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly slowed in the month of April.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI fell to 55.4 in April from 57.1 in March. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector, economists had expected the index to inch up to 57.6.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in the month of March.

Networking stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.1 percent. The index is bouncing off its lowest closing level in almost a year.

Significant strength is also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by 1.9 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Financial, biotechnology and oil service stocks are also seeing notable strength, while gold stocks are moving sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal.

With gold for June delivery tumbling $48 to $1,863.70 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has slumped by 2.1 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Monday, with several markets closed on the day. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid by 1.2 percent.

European stocks have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K. markets are closed for a bank holiday, the German DAX Index is down by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably lower as traders look ahead to the Fed decision. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 9.2 basis points at 2.979 percent.

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