WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved sharply higher in morning trading on Tuesday, regaining some ground following recent weakness. The markets are benefiting from bargain hunting after the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the previous session at multi-month closing lows.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 341.29 points or 1.4 percent at 25,161.07, the Nasdaq is up 97.24 points or 1.3 percent at 7,430.26 and the S&P 500 is up 31.98 points or 1.2 percent at 2,776.43.
The early buying interest has been partly attributed to a statement from China's Ministry of Commerce indicating the U.S.-China trade dispute can only be resolved through further talks.
While no new talks are scheduled, a spokesperson for China's Commerce Ministry said, 'The Chinese side always believes that the differences and frictions between the two sides in the economic and trade field will ultimately need to be resolved through dialogue and consultation.'
However, the spokesperson said future talks need to be based on 'mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit' and called on the U.S. to 'abandon its wrong practices and work in tandem with the Chinese side.'
The release of the statement comes as both sides have been seeking to blame the other for the breakdown in trade talks last month.
In a statement, the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Treasury Department accused China of pursuing a 'blame game' while at the same time claiming China had 'back-pedaled on important elements of what the parties had agreed to.'
Positive sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said the central bank will act 'as appropriate' to sustain the economic expansion.
Powell addressed the recent developments involving trade negotiations and other matters, acknowledging that the Fed does not know how or when these issues will be resolved.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard suggested in a speech on Monday that an interest rate cut 'may be warranted soon' due in part to escalating global trade tensions.
Banking stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside in morning trading, driving the KBW Bank Index up by 2.5 percent. The index continues to rebound after ending last Friday's trading at a two-month closing low.
Semiconductor, transportation, brokerage, and networking stocks are also seeing considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed just below the unchanged line, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has surged up by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.
In the bond markets, treasuries are giving back ground after moving sharply higher over the past several sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.9 basis points at 2.130 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
