Stocks Mostly Positive Ahead Of Fed Minutes - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks are mostly higher in mid-day trading on Wednesday after seeing considerable volatility earlier in the trading session. Buying interest on the day has remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the upside for the markets.

Currently, the major averages are all in positive territory, although the Nasdaq is outperforming its counterparts. While the Nasdaq is up 38.86 points or 0.8 percent at 4,949.10, the Dow is up 44.84 points or 0.3 percent at 17,920.26 and the S&P 500 is up 6.82 points or 0.3 percent at 2,083.15.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflects positive sentiment generated by news on the merger-and-acquisition front, with Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-A) agreeing to acquire oil and gas exploration firm BG Group for nearly $70 billion in cash and stock.

Analysts have suggested that the acquisition could be the first in a series of energy sector mergers due in part to the impact of the recent drop in oil prices.

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

The minutes are scheduled to be released at 2 pm ET and could shed some light on the outlook for interest rates, although it is worth noting that the meeting came before last Friday's disappointing jobs data.

Along with the Fed minutes, traders are looking ahead to the release of quarterly results from aluminum giant Alcoa (AA).

Alcoa is scheduled to release its first quarter results after the close of today's trading, marking the unofficial start of earnings season.

Analysts expect Alcoa to report first quarter earnings of $0.26 per share on revenues of $5.94 billion. A year ago, the company reported adjusted earnings of $0.09 per share on revenues of $5.45 billion.

Sector News

Biotechnology stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2 percent. The index also moved notably higher in early trading on Tuesday before pulling back over the course of the session.

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) and Myriad Genetics (MYGN) are turning in two of the biotech sector's best performances, jumping by 4.1 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Considerable strength has also emerged among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. With the gain, the index is climbing further off the three-month closing low it set on Monday.

Healthcare, pharmaceutical, and internet stocks are also seeing notable strength in mid-day trading, while gold stocks are moving lower along with the price of the precious metal.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 3.8 percent following a long Easter break.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dropped by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved steadily lower as traders await a ten-year note auction. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.8 basis points at 1.921 percent.