Stocks Turn Positive After Seeing Initial Weakness - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After seeing initial weakness, stocks have turned higher over the course of morning trading on Wednesday. The major averages have bounced well off their early lows and into positive territory, with the Nasdaq showing a notable rebound.

Currently, the major averages are off their highs for the session but holding on to gains. While the Nasdaq is up 26.74 points or 0.6 percent at 4,742.47, the Dow is up 18.11 points or 0.1 percent at 17,548.09 and the S&P 500 is up 3.57 points or 0.2 percent at 2,050.79.

The turnaround seen on Wall Street may partly be due to bargain hunting following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session.

With the sell-off on Tuesday, the Dow fell to its lowest closing level in well over a month and the Nasdaq hit a two-month closing low.

Nonetheless, traders seem somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's April monetary policy meeting this afternoon.

The minutes may provide some insight into the thinking of Fed officials and whether the central bank plans to raise interest rates at its June meeting.

Concerns about a rate hike next month were raised by yesterday's upbeat housing and industrial production data as well as a report showing a bigger than expected increase in consumer prices

Financial stocks are seeing considerable strength, however, with the Dow Jones Banks Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index jumping by 2.2 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is posting a notable gain on the day after raising its quarterly dividend to 48 cents per share from 44 cents per share.

Electronic storage, semiconductor, and biotechnology stocks have also shown strong moves to the upside, while some weakness is visible among tobacco and commercial real estate stocks.

Among individual stocks, shares of Andersons (ANDE) have moved sharply higher amid news the grain-handling company is the target of a $1 billion cash buyout bid from HC2 Holdings.

Home improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW) has also moved notably higher after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

On the other hand, shares of Target (TGT) have come under pressure after the retailer reported better than expected first quarter earnings but on disappointing same-store sales.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have once again turned mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably lower after ending the previous session roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.8 basis points at 1.817 percent.