Nasdaq Joins Dow, S&P 500 Firmly In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Tuesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq joining the Dow and S&P 500 firmly in positive territory following the mixed performance seen earlier in the session.

In recent trading, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 have reached new highs for the session. The Dow is up 323.74 points or 0.9 percent at 34,909.09, the Nasdaq is up 84.53 points or 0.6 percent at 14,329.47 and the S&P 500 is up 24.74 points or 0.6 percent at 4,547.53.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to earnings news from big-name companies like Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

Shares of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are surging by 4.5 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, after both financial giants reported second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) and PNC Financial Services (PNC) are also posting strong gains after reporting their quarterly results.

The advance by the Dow also comes as shares of Verizon (VZ) are spiking by 4.6 percent after tumbling to their lowest levels in almost thirteen years on Monday.

Traders have also reacted positive to the release of separate reports showing a smaller than expected increase in retail sales and an unexpected decrease in industrial production.

While the reports have led to some concerns about the strength of the economy, the data has added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve nearing the end of its interest rate hiking cycle.

The Commerce Department said retail sales edged up by 0.2 percent in June after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in May.

Economists had expected retail sales to advance by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.3 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a modest increase in sales by motor vehicles and parts dealers, retail sales still rose by 0.2 percent in June after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in May.

Economists had expected ex-auto sales to increase by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Fed said industrial production slid by 0.5 percent in June, matching the downwardly revised decrease in May.

Economists had expected production to come in unchanged compared to the 0.2 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

Sector News

Software stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index up by 3.2 percent to its best intraday level in well over a year.

The upbeat earnings news also continues to contribute to substantial strength among financial stocks, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the KBW Bank Index surging by 2.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

A significant increase by the price of crude oil is also contributing to considerable strength among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

Transportation, natural gas and gold stocks have also moved notably higher, while interest rate sensitive utilities and commercial real estate stocks have moved to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both climbed by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back off their best levels of the day but continue to see modest strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.4 basis points at 3.783 percent.