Major Averages Rebounding Along With Deutsche Bank - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly higher in early trading on Friday, regaining some ground following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages have moved back to the upside, extending a recent seesaw trend.

Currently, the major averages are hovering in positive territory. The Dow is up 115.77 points or 0.6 percent at 18,259.22, the Nasdaq is up 23.42 points or 0.4 percent at 5,292.57 and the S&P 500 is up 11.37 points or 0.5 percent at 2,162.50.

Bargain hunting may be contributing to the early strength on Wall Street following the notable decline seen in afternoon trading on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank (DB) led the markets lower after Bloomberg reported that several hedge funds have withdrawn excess cash and positions held at the German financial giant.

After plummeting by 6.7 percent in the previous session, shares of Deutsche Bank have shown a substantial rebound and are currently up by 7.4 percent.

Computer hardware stocks have shown a notable move to the upside in early trading, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 1.9 percent. The gain has lifted the index to its best intraday level in over a year.

Printer maker Lexmark (LXK) is leading the hardware sector higher after U.S. regulators cleared its proposed buyout by an Asia-based consortium.

Semiconductor, telecom, and railroad stocks are also seeing early strength, while most of the other major sectors have shown more modest moves to the upside.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing an uptick in personal income in the month of August.

The report said personal income edged up by 0.2 percent in August after climbing by 0.4 percent in July. The modest increase in income matched economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said personal spending was virtually unchanged in August following a 0.4 percent increase in July. Economists had been expecting spending to rise by 0.2 percent.

A reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve showed that core consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent in August, matching expectations. The annual rate of growth accelerated to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent.

MNI Indicators also released a report showing a faster than expected acceleration in the pace of growth in Chicago-area business activity in September.

The Chicago business barometer jumped to 54.2 in September from 51.5 in August, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in regional business activity. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 52.0.

A separate report from the University of Michigan showed an improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of September.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for September was upwardly revised to 91.2 from the preliminary reading of 89.8.

The final reading on the consumer sentiment index for September is up from 89.8 in August and above economist estimates for a reading of 90.1.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 1.5 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, although China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the downtrend.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index has inched up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have turned lower after seeing initial strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.8 basis points at 1.575 percent.