Major Averages Continue To Recover From Monday's Sell-Off

(RTTNews) - Following the rebound seen in the previous session, stocks continued to recover from Monday's sell-off during trading on Wednesday. The markets benefited from a positive reaction to the latest news about Greece as well as some upbeat U.S. economic data.

Commercial real estate stocks saw considerable strength on the day, driving the Morgan Stanley REIT Index up by 1.5 percent. With the gain, the index climbed further off the eight-month closing low set on Monday.

Cousins Properties (CUZ), Post Properties (PPS), and Macerich (MAC) turned in some of the real estate sector's best performances.

Significant strength was also visible among financial stocks, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the Dow Jones Banks Index climbing by 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Pharmaceutical, housing, and retail stocks also saw notable strength, contributing to the higher close by the broader markets.

On the other hand, oil service stocks moved sharply lower, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 3 percent. With the drop, the index fell to a three-month closing low.

The weakness among oil service stocks came amid a sharp drop by the price of crude oil, with crude for August delivery plunging $2.51 to $56.96 a barrel.

Gold, natural gas and airline stocks also came under pressure on the day, partly offsetting the strength seen in the aforementioned sectors.

The major averages moved to the upside going into the close but still ended the session well off their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced 138.40 points or 0.8 percent to 17,757.91, the Nasdaq rose 26.26 points or 0.5 percent to 5,013.12 and the S&P 500 climbed 14.31 points or 0.7 percent to 2,077.42.