WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the sharp pullback seen over the three previous sessions, stocks have shown a strong move back to the upside in morning trading on Wednesday. The major averages have all climbed firmly into positive territory.
Currently, the major averages are at or near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 465.74 points or 1.7 percent at 27,966.63, the Nasdaq is up 247.25 points or 2.3 percent at 11,094.94 and the S&P 500 is up 64.10 points or 1.9 percent at 3,395.94.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflects a rebound by technology stocks, which led the markets lower over the past few sessions.
Tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) are posting notable gains on the day, jumping by 3.8 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.
Gold stocks have also shown a significant move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.4 percent.
The strength among gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery climbing $11.90 to $1,955.10 an ounce.
Substantial strength has also emerged among chemical stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent spike by the S&P Chemical Sector Index.
Software, utilities and pharmaceutical stocks are also seeing considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index plummeted by 1.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has surged up by 1.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 1.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the morning. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 0.687 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX