WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, regaining ground following the pullback seen to start the week. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 have climbed firmly into positive territory, although the narrower Dow is lingering near the unchanged line.
Currently, the Nasdaq is just off its highs of the session, up 215.32 points or 0.8 percent at 26,196.89. The S&P 500 is also up 30.80 points or 0.4 percent at 7,616.53, while the Dow is down 30.08 points or 0.1 percent at 52,063.03.
The rebound on Wall Street comes as traders look to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following recent weakness, with the S&P 500 bouncing off its lowest closing level in over a month.
A sharp pullback by the price of crude oil has also generated buying interest, as U.S. crude oil futures are plunging by more than 4 percent after soaring by almost 6 percent over the past two days.
The steep drop in crude oil prices may be partly due to optimism about a quick reopening of Saudi Arabia's damaged East-West pipeline following comments from Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Wright told CNBC that the pipeline outage is a 'brief and temporary interruption' that 'will be measured in days.'
Overall trading activity appears somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later this afternoon.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 90.7 percent chance of a quarter point rate hike.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. retail sales shot up by much more than expected in the month of August.
The Commerce Department said retail sales jumped by 1.2 percent in August after falling by a revised 0.5 percent in July. Economists had expected retail sales to increase by 0.7 percent.
Sector News
Airline stocks are rebounding amid the sharp pullback in crude oil prices, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index jumping by 2 percent after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in almost four months.
Significant strength is also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Computer hardware and networking stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while energy stocks are showing a substantial move back to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index both climbed by 0.7 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are regaining ground following the downward trend seen over the past several sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.7 basis points at 4.959 percent.
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