WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an early move to the upside, stocks have given back some ground but remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Wednesday. With the upward move, the major averages are partly offsetting the notable losses posted in the previous session.
Currently, the major averages continue to hover in positive territory. The Dow is up 61.49 points or 0.2 percent at 26,609.71, the Nasdaq is up 50.79 points or 0.6 percent at 7,935.50 and the S&P 500 is up 6.39 points or 0.2 percent at 2,923.77.
The early strength on Wall Street came as comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin generated optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal.
Ahead of the highly anticipated G20 meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mnuchin told CNBC the U.S. and China had nearly completed a deal before talks broke down last month.
'We were about 90 percent of the way there and I think there's a path to complete this,' Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC's Hadley Gamble but did not shed any light on the sticking points to achieving the final 10 percent.
Mnuchin refused to speculate on whether a deal would be completed but said he was 'hopeful,' noting 'President Trump and President Xi have a very close working relationship.'
However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant news as they waited for more concrete developments out of the talks.
The positive sentiment may also have been partly offset by a report from the Commerce Department unexpectedly showing another steep drop in durable goods orders in the month of May.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.3 percent in May after plunging by 2.8 percent in April. The continued decrease surprised economists, who had expected durable goods orders to rise by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, excluding another nosedive in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.3 percent in May after edging down by 0.1 percent in April. Economists had expected a 0.1 percent uptick.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks continue to see significant strength in mid-day trading, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surging up by 3.8 percent. The index is on pace to end the session at its best closing level in well over a month.
Micron Technology (MU) is leading the sector higher after the chipmaker reported better than expected fiscal third quarter results and forecast a rebound in DRAM demand.
Substantial strength also remains visible among energy stocks, which are benefiting from a sharp increase by the price of crude oil.
Crude for August delivery is spiking $1.85 to $59.68 a barrel following the release of a report showing a weekly nosedive in crude oil inventories.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is jumping by 3.5 percent, while the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index are up by 2.5 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
Steel and computer hardware stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, while tobacco, commercial estate, and pharmaceutical stocks have shown notable moves to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.5 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving notably higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.6 basis points at 2.030 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
