U.S. Stocks Holding On To Strong Gains After Early Rally

After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks continue to see significant strength in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The major averages are adding to the modest gains posted in the previous session, further offsetting recent weakness.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 499.16 points or 1.5 percent at 33,348.90, the Nasdaq is up 172.72 points or 1.6 percent at 10,719.83 and the S&P 500 is up 57.62 points or 1.5 percent at 3,879.24.

The rally on Wall Street comes as stocks continue to benefit from bargain hunting, with the uptick seen on Tuesday coming after the major averages slumped to their lowest closing levels in over a month on Monday.

Upbeat earnings news has also generated some positive sentiment, with Nike (NKE) helping to lead the Dow higher.

Shares of Nike are soaring by 13.6 percent after the athletic footwear and apparel giant reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results and provided upbeat full-year revenue guidance.

Delivery giant FedEx (FDX) has also shown a strong move to the upside after reporting fiscal second quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.

Adding to the positive sentiment, the Conference Board released a report showing a significant improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of December.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index spiked to 108.3 in December from an upwardly revised 101.4 in November. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 101.0 from the 100.2 originally reported for the previous month.

With the much bigger than expected surge, the consumer confidence index reached its highest level since April 2022.

Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, also noted inflation expectations retreated to the lowest level since September 2021, reflecting recent declines in gas prices.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing a continued slump in U.S. existing home sales in the month of November.

NAR said existing home sales dove by 7.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.09 million in November after plunging by 5.9 percent to a rate of 4.43 million in October. Economists had expected existing home sales to tumble by 5.2 percent to a rate of 4.20 million.

Existing home sales decreased for the tenth consecutive month and are down by 35.4 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Sector News

Semiconductor stocks continue to see substantial strength in afternoon trading, resulting in a 2.4 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index is bouncing off its lowest closing level in well over a month.

Significant strength also remains visible among energy stocks, which are moving sharply higher along with the price of crude oil.

With crude for February delivery jumping $1.89 to $78.12 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index is up by 2.3 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.

Steel stocks also continue to turn in a strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index is up by 2.2 percent.

Housing, airline and commercial real estate have also shown notable moves to the upside, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 2.0 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back off their highs of the session but continue to see modes strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.3 basis points at 3.671 percent.

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