Major Averages Holding On To Strong Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks are turning in a strong performance in mid-day trading on Wednesday, added to the substantial gains posted in the previous session. The gains have lifted the S&P 500 to a new record high, while the Nasdaq has reached its best levels since 2000.

Adding to the strong gains posted on Tuesday, electronic storage stocks have moved sharply higher on the day. The NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index has surged up by 4.5 percent, reaching a five-month intraday high.

Within the storage sector, shares of Datalink (DTLK) have jumped by 27.2 percent after the data center infrastructure and services provider raised its fourth quarter guidance.

Networking stocks are also extending a recent upward trend, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index rising by 1.8 percent. With the gain, the index has risen to its best intraday level in well over two years.

Considerable strength has also emerged among banking stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones Banks Index. While Bank of America is leading the way higher, Citigroup (C) and JP Morgan (JPM) are also posting standout gains.

Software, telecom, and gold stocks are also seeing notable strength, moving to the upside along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 121.30 points or 0.7 percent at 16,495.16, the Nasdaq is up 28.26 points or 0.7 percent at 4,211.28 and the S&P 500 is up 9.82 points or 0.5 percent at 1,848.70.