Stocks Regaining Ground After Last Friday's Sell-Off - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After seeing initial weakness, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Monday. The rebound on the day comes on the heels of the sell-off that was seen last Friday.

Currently, the major averages are just off their highs for the session. The Dow is up 68.41 points or 0.4 percent at 18,153.86, the Nasdaq is up 41.87 points or 0.8 percent at 5,167.77 and the S&P 500 is up 11.29 points or 0.5 percent at 2,139.10.

The turnaround by stocks likely reflects bargain hunting following the broad-based decline that was seen in the previous session.

Concerns about a near-term interest rate hike dragged stocks like last Friday. The Dow and the S&P 500 tumbled to two-month closing lows, while the Nasdaq hit its lowest closing level in well over a month.

Biotechnology stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.8 percent.

Significant strength is also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector comes despite a decrease by the price of gold.

Railroad, telecom, and semiconductor stocks are also seeing notable strength, mobbing higher along with most of the other major sectors.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw considerable weakness during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 3.4 percent.

The major European markets also showed notable moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing moderate weakness, extending the slide seen to end the previous week. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.5 basis points at 1.687 percent.