Dollar Weakness Leads To Early Strength On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session mixed, stocks have moved mostly higher in early trading on Friday. The major averages have all climbed into positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq reaching its best levels since early 2000.

Currently, the major averages are posting strong gains, near their highs for the young session. The Dow is up 169.86 points or 1 percent at 18,128.89, the Nasdaq is up 37.89 points or 0.8 percent at 5,030.27 and the S&P 500 is up 17.59 points or 0.8 percent at 2,106.86.

The early strength on Wall Street is partly due to weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar, with the greenback sliding to $1.0783 versus the euro compared to yesterday's $1.0660.

The dollar is on pace for its biggest weekly drop since 2013 amid indications that the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates more slowly than previously anticipated.

In the Fed forecasts released on Wednesday, the central bank said the median projection for the mid-point of the fed funds target range at the end of 2015 is now 0.625 percent compared to 1.125 percent in December.

Gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside in early trading, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.7 percent. The strength in the sector comes as gold for April delivery is climbing $11.90 to $1,180.90 an ounce.

Significant strength is also visible among energy stocks, which are moving higher along with the price of crude oil. Crude for May delivery is currently jumping $1.09 to $46.62 a barrel.

Housing, steel, and computer hardware stocks are also seeing early strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Among individual stocks, shares of Nike (NKE) are moving notably higher in early trading after the athletic equipment giant reported better than expected third quarter earnings.

Chinese travel booking site Ctrip (CTRP) has also spiked higher after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results and providing upbeat revenue growth guidance for the first quarter.

On the other hand, shares of Tiffany (TIF) have moved to the downside in early trading after the luxury jeweler reported an unexpected drop in fourth quarter sales.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has surged up by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have rebounded after turning lower over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.8 basis points at 1.939 percent.