WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an early move to the upside, stocks have given back some ground over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but remain mostly positive. The major averages are adding to the gains posted in the previous session.
Currently, the major averages are posting moderate gains. The Dow is up 193.94 points or 0.4 percent at 52,702.21, the Nasdaq is up 93.32 points or 0.4 percent at 26,200.33 and the S&P 500 is up 19.73 points or 0.3 percent at 7,563.32.
The continued strength on Wall Street comes following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing producer prices fell by more than expected in the month of June.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand fell by 0.3 percent in June after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.6 percent in May.
Economists had expected producer prices to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 1.1 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 5.5 percent in June from a downwardly revised 6.0 percent in May.
Economists had expected the annual rate of producer price growth to slow to 6.2 percent from the 6.5 percent originally reported for the previous month.
Following yesterday's weaker-than-expected consumer price inflation data, the report has further eased concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates.
'Traders are rapidly retreating from rate-hike bets,' FHN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low. 'Fed funds futures see the odds of a hike this month now at 9% and have a hike fully priced in by December. Yesterday, it was September.'
Buying interest has remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders keep an eye on the escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
In an interview with Fox News, President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran's power plants and bridges next week 'unless they get to the table and negotiate.'
Sector News
Airline stocks have moved sharply higher amid a pullback by the price of crude oil, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index surging by 2.7 percent.
Considerable strength is also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index.
Financial and software stocks are also seeing significant strength on the day, while computer hardware, semiconductor and networking stocks are seeing substantial weakness.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 1.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up by 1.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the upward move seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.2 basis points at 4.553 percent.
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