WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, adding to the strong gains posted over the two previous sessions. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have moved to the upside on the day, although the narrower Dow is bucking the uptrend.
Currently, the Dow is down 141.29 points or 0.3 percent at 48,394.70, but the S&P 500 is up 31.69 points or 0.5 percent at 6,999.07 and the Nasdaq is up 240.06 points or 1.0 percent at 23,879.15.
The advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which has reached its best intraday level in well over two months, partly reflects a sharp increase by shares of Broadcom (AVGO).
Broadcom is surging by 2.9 percent after the chip maker announced a multi-year, multi-generation strategic partnership to support Meta's (META) rapidly scaling artificial intelligence compute infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the pullback by the Dow partly reflects a steep decline by shares of Caterpillar (CAT), with the construction equipment maker tumbling by 3.6 percent.
Traders may be reluctant to make more significant moves following the two-day surge seen to start the week.
Uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East may also be keeping some traders on the sidelines as they await additional details about another round of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.
In an interview with Fox Business, President Donald Trump expressed confidence the war is 'very close to over' and reiterated his claim that Iran wants to make a deal 'very badly.'
Trump also predicted that the 'stock market is going to boom' when the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran is finally over.
Sector News
Software stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index surging by 3.8 percent.
Notable strength is also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.
On the other hand, gold stocks have moved sharply lower amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.8 percent.
Transportation, housing and pharmaceutical stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, limiting the upside for the broader markets.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.3 basis points at 4.279 percent.
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