Stocks Remain Mostly Positive In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Extending the upward move seen in the previous session, stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. With the gains, the major averages have further offset their recent pullback, although the Dow and the S&P 500 remain well off the record intraday highs set last Friday.

Currently, the major averages are posting notable gains, near their highs for the session. The Dow is up 58.37 points or 0.4 percent at 16,314.51, the Nasdaq is up 29.00 points or 0.7 percent at 4,141.99 and the S&P 500 is up 5.91 points or 0.3 percent at 1,857.87.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to quarterly results from Alcoa (AA), with the aluminum giant advancing by 3.4 percent on the day.

While Alcoa swung to a net loss for the first quarter compared to a year-ago profit, the company reported better than expected adjusted earnings, which exclude restructuring charges. Alcoa also reiterated its forecast for 7 percent global aluminum demand growth in 2014.

Alcoa was removed from the Dow last September, but the release of quarterly results from the company is still seen as the unofficial start of earnings season.

Nonetheless, trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, with some traders looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which could shed some light on the outlook for monetary policy.

"While everyone will obsess about when the Fed may raise the fed funds rate, there is still $660 billion at an annualized run rate of QE that they need to end first," said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group. "First things first."

Among individual stocks, shares of Science Applications International (SAIC) have surged up by 8.5 percent after the provider of technical, engineering and enterprise IT solutions reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings.

Professional networking site LinkedIn (LNKD) is also turning in a strong performance after Topeka Capital Markets upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Hold.

On the other hand, shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) have moved sharply lower after the surgical systems maker provided disappointing first quarter revenue guidance.

Sector News

While many of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, significant strength remains visible among biotechnology stocks. The NYSE Arca Biotechnology has surged up by 2.2 percent after ending the previous session at a two-month closing low.

ImmunoGen (IMGN), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), and Celgene (CELG) are turning in some of the biotech sector's best performances.

Airline and healthcare stocks have also moved to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index and the Dow Jones Healthcare Index both advancing by 1 percent.

Meanwhile, tobacco stocks have come under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 1.2 percent. Lorillard (LO) has helped to lead the sector lower.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Wednesday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and tumbled by 2.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.1 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index advanced by 0.9 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly lower after turning higher over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.3 basis points at 2.704 percent.