WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks have given back ground over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages have pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Nasdaq briefly dipping into negative territory.
The major averages have moved higher in recent trading but remain well off their best levels. The Dow is up 339.49 points or 0.8 percent at 45,506.13, the S&P 500 is up 24.99 points or 0.4 percent at 6,393.84 and the Nasdaq is up 25.91 points or 0.1 percent at 20,974.26.
Bargain hunting contributed to the initial strength on Wall Street, as some traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.
The steep drop seen last week dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in over eight months last Friday.
Optimistic comments from President Donald Trump about the war in the Middle East also generated some early buying interest.
Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social this morning that the U.S. has made 'great progress' in discussions with a 'new, and more reasonable, regime' to end military operations in Iran.
However, Trump warned that if a deal not reached shortly, the U.S. will 'conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)'
Buying interest has waned over the course of the session, however, as the price of crude oil are seeing further upside amid ongoing concerns about the impact of the Middle East war.
Sector News
Despite the pullback by the broader markets, software stocks continue to turn in a strong performance, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index jumping by 1.9 percent.
Interest rate-sensitive commercial real estate and utilities stocks are also seeing considerable strength amid a sharp pullback by treasury yields.
Meanwhile, semiconductor, networking and computer hardware stocks have moved sharply lower on the day, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 2.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are showing a significant rebound following the weakness seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 9.4 basis points at 4.346 percent.
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