WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After ending the previous session modestly lower, stocks have moved back to the upside in morning trading on Wednesday. With the upward move on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has reached a new record intraday high.
Currently, the major averages are holding on to modest gains. The Dow is up 17.25 points or 0.1 percent at 28,600.93, the Nasdaq is up 15.95 points or 0.2 percent at 9,084.53 and the S&P 500 is up 5.15 points or 0.2 percent at 3,242.33.
The modest strength on Wall Street comes as traders digest news of Iran's overnight attack on Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani last week.
Iran purportedly launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at multiple targets, which initially raised concerns about an escalation of the confrontation between the U.S. and Iran.
However, preliminary reports said the attack did not kill or injure any Americans, leading some analysts to suggest Iran was seeking to make a show of force without ramping up the conflict.
'Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,' Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Twitter. 'We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.'
President Donald Trump tweeted, 'All is well!' following the missile strikes and indicated he would make a statement about the attack sometime this morning.
The markets are also benefiting from the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing much stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of December.
ADP said private sector employment surged up by 202,000 jobs in December after climbing by a substantially upwardly revised 124,000 jobs in November.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 160,000 jobs compared to the addition of 67,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.
Economists expect employment to increase by 160,000 jobs in December after spiking by 266,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.5 percent.
Housing stocks are seeing notable strength in morning trading, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index climbing by 1.2 percent.
Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) is leading the sector higher after reporting fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, energy stocks have come under pressure along with the price of crude oil, as crude for February delivery is tumbling $1.35 to $61.35 a barrel.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 2 percent, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index is down by 1.9 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index is down by 1.3 percent.
Significant weakness has also emerged among gold stocks, which are moving lower despite a modest increase by the price of the precious metal.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed after the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.6 basis points at 1.809 percent.
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