Major Averages Hovering Firmly In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks continue to turn in a strong performance in mid-day trading on Monday. While buying interest has waned somewhat, the markets have maintained a positive bias.

Semiconductor stocks continue to see significant strength in mid-day trading, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.7 percent. The index is regaining some ground after closing lower for four consecutive sessions.

LSI Corp. (LSI) is leading the semiconductor sector higher after agreeing to be acquired by Avago Technologies (AVGO) for $6.6 billion in cash. Shares of LSI have jumped by 38.7 percent.

Considerable strength has also emerged among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength among gold stocks comes as gold for February delivery is climbing $13.60 to $1,248.20 an ounce.

Electronic storage stocks are also turning in a strong performance on the day, with the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index up by 1.4 percent after ending last Friday's trading at its worst closing level in a month.

Housing, networking, and oil stocks are also posting notable gains, moving to the upside along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 145.17 points or 0.9 percent at 15,900.53, the Nasdaq is up 29.75 points or 0.7 percent at 4,030.73 and the S&P 500 is up 12.60 points or 0.7 percent at 1,787.92.