U.S. Stocks Seeing Continued Strength After Early Rally

After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks continue to see considerable strength in afternoon trading on Monday. With the upward move, the major averages are extending the significant rebound seen last Friday.

In recent trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have reached new highs for the session. While the Nasdaq is up 249.85 points or 2.2 percent at 11,390.28, the S&P 500 is up 59.91 points or 1.5 percent at 4,032.52 and the Dow is up 336.83 points or 1.0 percent at 33,712.32.

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 4.9 percent to a five-month intraday high.

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 also remains visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 3.5 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Networking and software stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while banking and transportation stocks are turning in some of the best performances outside the tech sector.

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 also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.5 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 4.4 basis points at 3.528 percent.

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