Major Averages Remain Firmly Positive In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - While buying interest has waned from earlier in the session, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Tuesday. The markets have benefited from a positive reaction to the latest developments regarding the situation in Syria.

Airline stocks have moved sharply higher on the day, extending the strong upward move seen over the past two weeks. The NYSE Arca Airline Index has surged up by 2.5 percent and reached a one-month high earlier in the session.

The strength among airline stocks comes as a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil has eased concerns about the outlook for jet fuel prices. Crude for October delivery has tumbled $2.65 to $106.87 a barrel.

Considerable strength has also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Strong gains by Micron (MU) and SunEdison (SUNE) have helped lift the index to its best intraday level in well over a month.

Steel stocks are also turning in another strong performance on the day, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 1.4 percent after reaching a nearly six-month intraday high.

Brokerage, software, and defense stocks are also seeing notable strength in mid-day trading, while gold stocks have come under pressure along with the price of the precious metal.

The major averages have recently given back some ground but are currently holding on to notable gains. The Dow is up 84.80 points or 0.6 percent at 15,147.92, the Nasdaq is up 16.69 points or 0.5 percent at 3,722.88 and the S&P 500 is up 8.12 points or 0.5 percent at 1,679.83.