Stocks Continue To Recover From Last Wednesday's Sell-Off - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Extending the rebound seen late last week, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. With the upward move on the day, the major averages further offset the sell-off that was seen last Wednesday.

The major averages closed firmly in positive territory for the third straight session. The Dow rose 89.99 points or 0.4 percent to 20,894.83, the Nasdaq advanced 49.92 points or 0.8 percent to 6,133.62 and the S&P 500 climbed 12.29 points or 0.5 percent to 2,394.02.

The markets continued to benefit from the upward momentum seen over the two previous sessions, which helped the major averages climb off their worst levels in nearly a month.

Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

Later this week, trading may be impacted by reaction to reports on new and existing home sales and durable goods orders.

The Federal Reserve is also due to the release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which may shed some light on the outlook for interest rates.

Among individual stocks, shares of Blackstone Group (BX) moved sharply higher after the private equity firm and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced they are launching $40 billion investment vehicle to finance infrastructure renovation in the U.S.

Auto giant Ford (F) also posted a notable gain after announcing it has named Jim Hackett as its new president and CEO. Hackett succeeds Mark Fields, who has elected to retire from Ford.

On the other hand, shares of Amgen (AMGN) came under pressure after the biotech company said it does not expect its experimental osteoporosis drug Evenity to win FDA approval this year amid concerns about heart safety.

Sector News

Gold stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbing by 1.5 percent.

The strength among gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, as gold for June delivery rose $7.80 to $1,261.40 an ounce.

Significant strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Ciena (CIEN) led the sector higher after an upgrade by Stifel Nicolaus.

Telecom stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, resulting in a 1.7 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Telecom Index.

Qualcomm (QCOM) posted a standout gain after JPMorgan Chase upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Overweight from Neutral.

Software, transportation, and electronic stocks also moved notably higher, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closes just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction before ending the session slightly lower. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by nearly a basis point to 2.254 percent.

Looking Ahead

A report on new home sales in the month of April is likely to attract attention on Tuesday. New home sales are expected to drop to 604,000 in April from 621,000 in March.