WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher in morning trading on Wednesday, rebounding following the sharp late-day pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the S&P 500 bouncing back within striking distance of its record high.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 270.40 points or 1 percent at 27,957.31, the Nasdaq is up 195.17 points or 1.8 percent at 10,977.99 and the S&P 500 is up 44.59 points or 1.3 percent at 3,378.28.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a rebound by tech stocks, which pulled back sharply after the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached another new record closing high last Thursday.
Big-name tech companies like Netflix (NFLX), Facebook (FB) and Amazon (AMZN) are posting notable gains, partly offsetting the recent weakness.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) are also moving sharply higher after the electric car maker said its board has approved and declared a five-for-one split of the company's common stock in the form of a stock dividend.
Positive sentiment may also have been generated by news that the U.S. government has secured 100 million doses of Moderna's (MRNA) experimental COVID-19 vaccine in a deal valued at up to $1.525 billion.
Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing the biggest increase in core consumer prices in nearly thirty years.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.6 percent in July, matching the increase seen in June. Economist had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3 percent.
Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices still advanced by 0.6 percent in July after inching up by 0.2 percent in the previous month. Core prices were expected to edge up by another 0.2 percent.
Core consumer prices showed their biggest increase since January of 1991, partly reflecting another jump in prices for motor vehicle insurance.
Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said the increase in consumer prices 'should end any speculation that the pandemic-related slump in demand will quickly push the economy into a deflationary spiral.'
'But this is not a sign that the U.S. is instead about to experience a bout of much high inflation because of supply restrictions,' Ashworth said. 'It mainly reflects a recovery in the prices of goods and services that were most affected during the early stages of the pandemic.'
Software stocks have shown a strong move to the upside in morning trading, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index up by 2 percent.
Significant strength has also emerged among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index.
Semiconductor, brokerage and transportation stocks are also turning in strong performances on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has jumped by 1.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the notable pullback seen over the past few sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.2 basis points at 0.680 percent.
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