WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday following the lackluster performance seen over the past few sessions. With the upward move, the major averages have reached their best intraday levels in over a month.
In recent trading, the major averages reached new highs for the session. The Dow is up 96.43 points or 0.4 percent at 27,005.86, the Nasdaq is up 60.76 points or 0.8 percent at 8,144.91 and the S&P 500 is up 11.69 points or 0.4 percent at 2,991.08.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to news that China is granting tariff exemptions for 16 types of American-made products as a sign of goodwill ahead of the next round of trade talks.
The list included varieties of animal feed such as alfalfa and fish meal, cancer drugs gefitinib and capecitabine, base oil for lubricants and lubricating grease, and some farm chemicals.
The Chinese Customs Tariff Commission said the tariff suspension would take effect next Tuesday and remain in place for a year.
Overall trading activity remains relatively light, however, as traders look ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision on Thursday as well as next week's Federal Reserve meeting.
In a post on Twitter this morning, President Donald Trump urged the Fed to lowest interest rates to zero or less, allowing the U.S. to refinance its debt.
'INTEREST COST COULD BE BROUGHT WAY DOWN, while at the same time substantially lengthening the term. We have the great currency, power, and balance sheet,' Trump tweeted.
'The USA should always be paying the lowest rate. No Inflation!' he added. 'It is only the naïveté of Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve that doesn't allow us to do what other countries are already doing. A once in a lifetime opportunity that we are missing because of 'Boneheads.'
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest uptick in producer prices in the month of August.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand inched up by 0.1 percent in August after rising by 0.2 percent in July. Economists had expected prices to come in unchanged.
Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices rose by 0.3 percent in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July. Core prices had been expected to increase by 0.2 percent.
Sector News
Gold stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, resulting in a 2.9 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The index is bouncing off its lowest closing level in over a month.
The rebound by gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery rising $4.30 to $1,503.50 an ounce.
Considerable strength has also emerged among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Tobacco, telecom, and biotechnology stocks are also seeing significant strength in mid-day trading, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Wednesday, although Chinese stocks bucked the uptrend. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.8 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up by 1 percent, German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the downward trend seen over the past several sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.8 basis points at 1.730 percent.
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