TMCnet News

Stocks Continue To See Significant Strength In Mid-Day Trading - US Commentary
[October 23, 2014]

Stocks Continue To See Significant Strength In Mid-Day Trading - US Commentary


(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - After moving sharply higher at the open, stocks have seen further upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The strong upward move on the day has more than offset the pullback that was seen in the previous session.



Currently, the major averages are posting substantial gains, near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 246.48 points or 1.5% at 16,707.80, the Nasdaq is up 73.22 points or 1.7% at 4,456.07 and the S&P 500 is up 26.48 points or 1.4% at 1,953.59.

The rally on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to upbeat earnings news from a number of big-name companies, including Caterpillar (CAT), 3M (MMM) and General Motors (GM).


Shares of Caterpillar are surging up by 4.6% after the construction equipment maker reported third quarter earnings that came in well above analyst estimates.

Caterpillar also raised its full-year earnings outlook despite relatively flat sales, which it called a testament to its diverse portfolio of businesses, disciplined cost control and operational execution.

Diversified manufacturer 3M is also posting a notable gain after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings, although auto giant GM has turned lower on the day.

Upbeat readings on manufacturing activity in both China and Europe have also generated some buying interest, with the data offsetting some of the recent concerns about the global economy.

On the US economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing that initial jobless claims rebounded in the week ended October 18th after hitting a fourteen-year low in the previous week.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 283,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level of 266,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 285,000.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board released a separate report showing that its index of leading US economic indicators rose by more than economists had anticipated in the month of September.

The report said the leading economic index climbed by 0.8% in September, while revised data showed that the index was unchanged in August. The index had been expected to rise by 0.6%.

Sector News Extending a recent upward trend, networking stocks are posting particularly strong gains in mid-day trading. The NYSE Arca Networking Index has surged up by 3.5%, climbing further off the one-year closing low set last Monday.

Infinera (INFN) is leading the sector higher, with the optical networking equipment maker jumping by 25.8% after reporting third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates.

Railroad stocks have also shown a substantial move to the upside, driving the Dow Jones Railroads Index up by 3.5% to a record high. Union Pacific (UNP) is posting a notable gain after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Significant strength has also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.7% gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. With the gain, the index has also reached a new record intraday high.

Computer hardware, natural gas, internet, and healthcare stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, while gold stocks are among the few groups bucking the uptrend.

Other Markets In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the UK's FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.3%, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have come under pressure, extending the downward trend seen in recent sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.6 basis points at 2.275%.

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]