WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of morning trading on Wednesday, extending the upward trend seen in recent sessions. The Dow and the S&P 500 have reached their best intraday levels in about three months, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq continues to climb back near its record highs.
Currently, the major averages are hovering near their highs of the session. The Dow is up 326.45 points or 1.3 percent at 26,069.10, the Nasdaq is up 56.80 points or 0.6 percent at 9,665.18 and the S&P 500 is up 30.34 points or 1 percent at 3,111.16.
The rally on Wall Street comes as traders continue to express optimism about an economy recovery as businesses reopen following the coronavirus-induced shutdown.
Adding to the economic optimism, payroll processor ADP released a report showing the pace of private sector job losses slowed by much more than anticipated in the month of May.
ADP said private sector employment slumped by 2.76 million jobs in May after plummeting by a revised 19.557 million jobs in April.
Economists had expected employment to plunge by about 9.0 million jobs compared to 20.236 million job nosedive originally reported for the previous month.
'While the labor market is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, job loss likely peaked in April, as many states have begun a phased reopening of businesses,' said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, which compiles the report with ADP, declared the 'Covid-19 recession is over' following the release of the data, according to CNBC.
A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management also showed the pace of contraction in the service sector slowed by even more than economists had been expecting.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index rebounded to 45.4 in May after plunging to an eleven-year low of 41.8 in April.
A reading below 50 still indicates a contraction in service sector activity, but the index came in above economist estimates for a reading of 44.0.
The U.S. data comes after survey results from IHS Markit showed China's service sector expanded for the first time in four months in May amid an easing of measures implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Banking stocks have moved sharply amid the optimism about an economic recovery, with the KBW Bank Index spiking by 4.7 percent. The index is currently on pace to end the session at its best closing level in nearly three months.
Economic optimism has also contributed to a rally by steel stocks, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 4 percent to nearly three-month intraday high.
Chemical, transportation, and commercial real estate stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while gold stocks are moving sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.4 percent.
The major European markets are also seeing further upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has spiked by 3.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 2.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply lower over the course of the morning. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 8.6 basis points at 0.766 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX