Major Averages Climb More Firmly Into Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - After moving moderately higher in early trading on Tuesday, stocks have seen some further upside over the course of the trading day. The strength on the day is partly offsetting the sell-off that was seen in the previous session.

Networking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 1.9 percent. The index is regaining some ground after falling sharply over the two previous sessions.

Anixter International (AXE) has helped to lead the networking sector higher, surging up by 7.2 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results.

Considerable strength has also emerged among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. With the gain, the index is bouncing off the two-month closing low set on Monday.

Natural gas stocks are also turning in a strong performance, moving higher along with the price of natural gas. With natural gas for March delivery climbing $0.337 to $5.242 per million BTUs, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index is up by 1.8 percent.

Chemical, steel, airline, and housing stocks are also seeing notable strength in mid-day trading, while some utilities stocks are bucking the uptrend.

The major averages are currently posting strong gains, near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 92.83 points or 0.6 percent at 15,465.63, the Nasdaq is up 44.13 points or 1.1 percent at 4,041.09 and the S&P 500 is up 15.00 points or 0.9 percent at 1,756.89.