Major Averages Holding On To Moderate Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After showing an early move to the upside, stocks remain mostly positive in mid-day trading on Wednesday. Buying interest has waned from earlier in the session, but the major averages are holding on to moderate gains.

Energy stocks continue to see substantial strength in mid-day trading, benefiting from a sharp increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for May delivery is currently surging up $2.37 to $55.66 a barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index are jumping by 2.5 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Steel stocks are also turning in a strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 1.8 percent to its best intraday level in over a month.

Considerable strength also remains visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector comes as gold for June delivery is climbing $3.90 to $1,196.50 an ounce.

Computer hardware, semiconductor, and chemical stocks are also seeing notable strength, moving higher along with a majority of the major sectors.

While the Dow has pulled back well off its best levels, the blue chip index remains up 57.46 points or 0.3 percent at 18,094.16. The Nasdaq is also up 21.29 points or 0.4 percent at 4,998.57, while the S&P 500 is up 9.41 points or 0.5 percent at 2,105.25.