WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an early move to the upside, stocks have fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but largely maintained a positive bias. With the upward move on the day, the major averages are extending the notable rebound seen over the three previous sessions.
Currently, the major averages all remain in positive territory. The Dow is up 113.79 points or 0.3 percent at 35,519.03, the Nasdaq is up 40.28 points or 0.3 percent at 14,386.23 and the S&P 500 is up 29.54 points or 0.7 percent at 4,576.08.
The continued strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to upbeat earnings from some big-name companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL).
Shares of Alphabet jumping by 8.5 percent after the tech giant reported fourth quarter result that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Alphabet also announced a 20-for-1 stock split, which has led to speculation the stock could be headed for inclusion in the Dow.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has also shown a strong move to the upside after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance.
Meanwhile, shares of PayPal (PYPL) have moved sharply lower after the payment service reported weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings and provided disappointing guidance.
Traders are also digesting a report from payroll processor ADP unexpectedly showing a sharp pullback in U.S. private sector employment in the month of January.
ADP said private sector employment plunged by 301,000 jobs in January after jumping by a downwardly revised 776,000 jobs in December.
The steep drop surprised economists, who had expected private sector employment to increase by 207,000 jobs compared to the spike of 807,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
'The labor market recovery took a step back at the start of 2022 due to the effect of the Omicron variant and its significant, though likely temporary, impact to job growth,' said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks continue to turn in a strong performance following the upbeat earnings news from AMD, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging up by 1.9 percent.
Interest rate-sensitive real estate and utilities stocks are also seeing considerable strength, as the unexpected slump in private sector jobs has eased concerns about the Federal Reserve aggressively raising rates.
Reflecting the strength in the sectors, the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index and the Dow Jones Utility Average are up by 1.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
Gold stocks have also moved notably higher amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, while a drop in crude oil prices is weighing on oil service stocks.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved higher on Wednesday, with several major markets still closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 1.7 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped by 1.2 percent.
European stocks also moved mostly higher on the day, although the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line. The French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have climbed firmly into positive territory after fluctuating early in the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 4.6 basis points at 1.754 percent.
Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2022 AFX News
