U.S. Stocks Holding On To Modest Gains In Afternoon Trading
After moving moderately higher early in the session, stocks have given back some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but continue to see modest strength.
Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but remain in positive territory. The Dow is up 72.09 points or 0.2 percent at 39,385.73, the Nasdaq is up 41.30 points or 0.3 percent at 16,425.77 and the S&P 500 is up 9.33 points or 0.2 percent at 5,227.52.
The early strength on Wall Street may partly have reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement last week.
While the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, officials maintained their forecast for three rate cuts this year.
Following the Fed announcement, the chances of a 25 basis point rate cut in June have rebounded to 63.7 percent, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
The major averages rallied to record highs on the heels of the Fed announcement last week, leading to some profit taking over two previous sessions.
Selling pressure remained subdued, however, as traders seem more concerned about missing out on further upside than suggestions the markets are overbought.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing a notable increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.
The report said durable goods orders jumped by 1.4 percent in February after plummeting by a revised 6.9 percent in January.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to shoot up by 1.3 percent compared to the 6.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.
Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher, surging by 3.3 percent in February after plunging by 18.3 percent in January.
Excluding the rebound in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in February after falling by 0.3 percent in January. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board released a separate report showing a slight deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of March.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slipped to 104.7 in March from a downwardly revised 104.8 in February.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to come in unchanged compared to the 106.7 originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Most of the major sectors continue to show only modest moves on the day, although significant strength remains visible among computer hardware stocks. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index is up by 1.8 percent.
Data storage company Seagate Technology (STX) has led the sector higher, surging by 9.1 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Upgrade from Overweight.
On the other hand, utilities stocks have moved to the downside over the course of the session, but selling pressure has remained subdued.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index closed marginally lower and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 4.244 percent.
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