The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering in positive territory. The Dow is currently up 35.27 points or 0.3 percent at 12,391.48, the Nasdaq is up 16.02 points or 0.6 percent at 2,762.18 and the S&P 500 is up 4.18 points or 0.3 percent at 1,320.46.
The strength that has emerged on Wall Street is partly due to a rally by energy stocks, which have moved to the upside along with the price of crude oil. Crude for July delivery is rising $1.01 to $100.60 a barrel after falling as low as $98.20 a barrel earlier in the session.
The turnaround by the price of crude oil comes even though a report from the Energy Department showed an unexpected increase in crude oil inventories in the week ended May 20th.
The report showed that crude oil inventories rose by 600,000 barrels and remain above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Gasoline inventories also rose by 3.8 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories fell by 2.0 million barrels.
Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing a bigger than expected drop in durable goods orders due in part to the recent volatility of the data.
The report showed that orders fell by 3.6 percent in April following an upwardly revised 4.4 percent increase in March. Economists had expected orders to drop by 3.0 percent compared to the 2.5 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.
"Bottom line, the revisions to March did compensate for the April fall in orders and proves how volatile this data set is month to month," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. "Thus, I'm not confident to make any firm conclusion with today's April figure."
He added, "With respect to manufacturing, the most important figure we await is next week's ISM because of the moderating May regional manufacturing surveys we've seen thus far."
Next Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on national manufacturing activity in the month of May.
Sector News
Oil service stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.5 percent. The sector has benefited from the rebound by the price of oil as well as news that Morgan Stanley upgraded Halliburton (HAL) to Overweight.
Natural gas and precious metal stocks have also shown strong upward moves, moving higher along with their respective commodities prices. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index and the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index are up by 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Significant strength has also emerged among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain currently being shown by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Within the sector, Imation (IMN) and NetApp (NTAP) are posting notable gains.
While networking, biotechnology, and healthcare provider stocks have also moved to the upside on the day, oil-sensitive airline stocks have shown a notable downturn. The NYSE Arca Airline Index is down by 1 percent after rising as much as 1.1 percent earlier in the session.
Stocks in the News
After moving sharply higher at the open, shares of Dycom Industries (DY) have given back some ground but remain up by 11.5 percent in early afternoon trading. Earlier in the session, Dycom reached its best intraday level in well over a month.
The strong gain by Dycom comes after the provider of telecom contracting services reported adjusted third quarter earnings of $0.10 per share compared to analyst estimates for $0.05 per share. The company also announced a plan to repurchase $20 million worth of its outstanding common stock.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI) has also moved sharply higher on the day after the casual dining chain said it has agreed to be acquired by Golden Gate Capital for $470 million in cash. Shares of California Pizza Kitchen are up by 9.9 percent after reaching a nearly ten-month intraday high.
On the other hand, shares of Collective Brands (PSS) are currently down by 15.6 percent after the footwear retailer reported sharply lower first quarter earnings on weaker than expected sales. At its low for the session, Collective Brands was at its worst intraday level in over six months.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly lower on Wednesday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.6 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index ended the day down by 1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all turned higher over the course of the trading day after seeing early weakness. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside in recent trading and moving higher earlier in the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.1 basis points at 3.134 percent after hitting a low 3.099 percent. ( Source by RTT Staff Writer ) For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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