(RTTNews) – Following the significant rebound seen last Friday, stocks are seeing continued strength in morning trading on Monday. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way higher.
In recent trading, the major averages have reached new highs for the session. While the Nasdaq is up 153.39 points or 1.4 percent at 11,293.82, the S&P 500 is up 33.60 points or 0.9 percent at 4,006.21 and the Dow is up 194.52 points or 0.6 percent at 33,570.01.
The strength on Wall Street comes as traders continue to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the weakness seen throughout most of the previous week.
Technology stocks are leading the advance once again, helping to lift the Nasdaq to its best intraday level in over a month.
Within the tech sector, semiconductor stocks are turning in a particularly strong performance, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 3.1 percent.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is posting a standout gain after Barclays upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Overweight from Equal Weight.
Significant strength is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Networking and software stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while banking and oil stocks are turning in some of the best performances outside the tech sector.
Meanwhile, gold stocks have shown a notable move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.6 percent.
The weakness among gold stocks comes amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for February delivery falling $14.20 to $1,914 an ounce.
The extended rally on Wall Street comes even as traders look ahead to the release of earnings news from a number of big-name companies this week.
General Electric (GE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Verizon (VZ), Microsoft (MSFT), AT&T (T), Boeing (BA), IBM Corp. (IBM), Tesla (TSLA), Intel (INTC) and American Express (AXP) are just some of the companies due to report their quarterly results in the coming days.
Reports on durable goods orders, fourth quarter GDP, new home sales and personal income and spending are also likely to attract attention later in the week.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday, with several markets closed for Lunar New Year. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries continue to give back ground, extending the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.9 basis points at 3.523 percent.