Major Averages Holding On To Strong Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher at the open, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Thursday. The strong gains on the day have partly offset the sharp pullback that was seen over the course of the previous session.

Oil service stocks have shown a strong move back to the upside on the day after falling sharply in the previous session. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index has surged up by 1.7 percent, bouncing off its worst closing level in well over three months.

The rebound by oil service stocks comes amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for August delivery jumping $1.16 to $52.81 a barrel.

Significant strength is also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The gain by the index comes after it ended Wednesday's trading at an eight-month closing low.

Biotechnology stocks are also turning in a strong performance following yesterday's sell-off, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index climbing by 1.6 percent. Novavax (NVAX) has helped to lead the sector higher, soaring by 7.6 percent.

Steel, brokerage, trucking, and banking stocks are also moving notably higher on the day, while utilities stocks are bucking the uptrend.

The major averages have pulled back off their best levels of the day but currently remain firmly positive. The Dow is up 150.56 points or 0.9 percent at 17,665.98, the Nasdaq is up 47.26 points or 1 percent at 4,957.02 and the S&P 500 is up 16.46 points or 0.8 percent at 2,063.14.