WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks have regained ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Nasdaq reaching positive territory.
Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Nasdaq is up 75.76 points or 0.4 percent at 19,218.47, the S&P 500 is down 7.51 points or 0.1 percent at 5,932.95 and the Dow is down 312.70 points or 0.7 percent at 42,364.54.
The early weakness on Wall Street came amid lingering uncertainty about the outlook for trade and the global economy following the surge seen over the past several weeks.
Stocks have shown a substantial recovery from their early April lows, but traders have recently been questioning the strength of the rebound amid a lack of clear progress on new trade deals.
A continued increase by bond yields also generated some selling pressure, with the thirty-year bond yield climbing above 5 percent due to concerns a new U.S. tax bill could worsen the country's deficit.
Selling pressure has waned over the course of the session, however, as traders generally remain optimistic about the outlook for the markets despite recent warnings signs.
A lack of major U.S. economic data may also be keeping some traders on the sidelines, leading to increased volatility on Wall Street.
The U.S. economic calendar picks back up in the coming days, with reports on weekly jobless claims and new and existing home sales likely to attract attention.
Sector News
Despite the recovery attempt by the broader markets, airline stocks continue to see significant weakness on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index falling by 1.4 percent.
A decrease by the price of crude oil is also weighing on oil producer stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 1.3 percent.
Banking and healthcare stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while gold stocks have shown another strong move to the upside along with the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.6 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.2 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside after ending the previous session roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.8 basis points at 4.529 percent.
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