WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions. The major averages moved to the upside in morning trading and remained firmly positive throughout the afternoon.
The major averages closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, continuing to claw their way back towards their record highs. The Dow climbed 314.67 points or 0.7 percent to 47,427.12, the Nasdaq jumped 189.10 points or 0.8 percent to 23,214.69 and the S&P 500 advanced 46.73 points or 0.7 percent to 6,812.61.
Stocks continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has helped the major averages rebound strongly from the significant pullback seen earlier in the month.
Traders seem to have shrugged off the valuation concerns that recently weighed on the markets and dragged the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 down to their lowest levels in over two months.
The markets have recently benefitted from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following dovish comments from some Federal Reserve officials.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicates the chances the Fed will lower rates by another quarter point next month have soared to 82.9 percent from just 30.1 percent a week ago.
According to the FedWatch Tool, the chances of a rate cut are little changed from yesterday despite the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data.
The Commerce Department released a long-delayed reported this morning showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased by more than expected in the month of September.
The report said durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in September after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.0 percent in August.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 2.9 percent surge that had been reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed an unexpected dip by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 22nd.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 216,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 222,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 220,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected dip, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting a matching number in the week ended April 12th.
Sector News
Gold stocks moved sharply higher amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 4.9 percent to its best closing level in well over a month.
Substantial strength was also visible among airline stocks, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3.2 percent to a one-month closing high.
Computer hardware and semiconductor stocks also saw significant strength on the day, contributing to the continued advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Brokerage, steel and natural gas stocks also showed strong moves to the upside, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.9 percent and South Korea's Kospi surged by 2.7 percent, although China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both advance by 0.9 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries recovered from an early pullback to end the day roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 3.998 percent, closing below 4 percent for the first time since late October.
Looking Ahead
Following the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, trading activity may be somewhat subdued amid an abbreviated trading session on Friday.
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