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

(RTTNews) - After an early move to the upside, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Tuesday. While the Dow has pulled back well off its best levels, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 remain firmly in positive territory.

Currently, the Dow is up 35.38 points or 0.1 percent at 24,754.60, the Nasdaq is up 83.47 points or 1.2 percent at 6,986.86 and the S&P 500 is up 15.56 points or 0.6 percent at 2,689.17.

The strength on Wall Street comes as traders are expressing optimism about the outlook for the markets and the economy going into the new year.

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

The economic calendar for the week starts off relatively quiet, although the closely watched monthly jobs report is likely to attract considerable attention on Friday.

In the coming days, traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on manufacturing and service sector activity, construction spending, private sector employment, international trade, and factory orders.

The Federal Reserve is also scheduled to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, potentially shedding light on the outlook for interest rates in the new year.

Sector News

Steel stocks continue to see considerable strength in mid-day trading, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index jumping by 3.4 percent. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in over three years.

The rally by steel stocks comes as upbeat manufacturing data out of China has generated optimism about the outlook for global steel demand.

Significant strength is also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector comes as gold for February delivery is climbing $4.80 to $1,314.10 an ounce.

Electronic storage, natural gas, semiconductor, and biotechnology stocks are also seeing notable strength, while weakness is visible among utilities stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. China's Shanghai Composite Index shot up by 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index spiked by 2 percent. The Japanese markets remained closed on the day.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have come under pressure amid the strength on Wall Street. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 6.2 basis points at 2.467 percent.