Stocks Remain Firmly Positive In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After moving mostly higher in early trading, stocks have continued to perform well throughout the trading day on Thursday. With the gains on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has reached its best intraday level in almost fifteen years.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 56.71 points or 0.3 percent at 17,918.85, the Nasdaq is up 36.71 points or 0.8 percent at 4,837.89 and the S&P 500 is up 13.28 points or 0.6 percent at 2,081.81.

The notable strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to news of an impending ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

Marathon peace talks involving the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France resulted in a ceasefire agreement set to go into effect on February 15th.

The deal involves a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called "extremely important."

Buying interest has also been generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from Cisco (CSCO), with the networking giant soaring by 8.8 percent.

After the close of trading on Wednesday, Cisco reported better than expected second quarter results and announced an 11 percent increase in its quarterly dividend.

Meanwhile, traders largely seem to have shrugged off some disappointing U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing a bigger than expected drop in retail sales.

The report said retail sales fell by 0.8 percent in January after slumping by 0.9 percent in December. Economists had expected sales to drop by 0.5 percent.

The continued decrease in retail sales came as falling gasoline prices contributed to another steep drop in sales by gas stations.

Sector News

Steel stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 2.6 percent. With the gain, the index is on pace to end the session at its best closing level in a month.

ArcelorMittal (MT), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) and A.M. Castle (CAS) are turning in some of the steel sector's best performances.

With Cisco leading the way higher, considerable strength is also visible among networking stocks. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Networking Index has surged up by 1.7 percent.

Banking stocks are also turning in a strong performance in mid-day trading, with the Dow Jones Banks Index up by 1.4 percent. The index is also on pace to set a one-month closing high.

Internet, energy, and chemical stocks are also seeing notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.9 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 1 percent and the German DAX Index surged up by 1.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly higher after ending the previous session roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.1 basis points at 1.967 percent.