WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, regaining ground after trending lower over the past few sessions. The major averages have all moved to the upside on the day but remain well off their recent highs.
Currently, the Dow is up 291.37 points or 0.6 percent at 53,634.77 and the S&P 500 is up 37.20 points or 0.5 percent at 7,728.96. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is posting a more modest gain after briefly turning negative, up 51.97 points or 0.2 percent at 26,341.68.
The strength on Wall Street comes amid a significant pullback by bond yields, with the thirty-year bond yield pulling back further off its highest levels in nearly two decades.
Yields moved sharply lower after the Treasury Department announced upscaled buyback operations for longer-term debt.
The Treasury said it is increasing the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities by at least double, effective September 9th.
'This increase in buyback operation sizes reflects Treasury's desire to provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants,' the Treasury said in a statement.
However, traders seem somewhat reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting this afternoon.
The minutes of the Fed's late-July meeting, when officials decided to leave interest rates unchanged in a divided vote, could impact the outlook for rates.
Sector News
Gold stocks are moving sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index soaring by 9 percent to a three-month intraday high.
The pullback by treasury yields is also contributing to substantial strength among housing stocks, as reflected by the 4 percent spike by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks are also seeing significant strength on the day, while computer hardware and semiconductor stocks are extending yesterday's sell-off.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 3.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 2.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply higher in reaction to the Treasury Department's announcement. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 5.9 basis points at 4.647 percent.
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