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

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved notably higher during trading on Tuesday, with the upward move partly reflecting a positive reaction to a slew of U.S. economic data. The gains on the day have more than offset the pullback seen on Monday.

Energy stocks have shown a strong move to the upside over the course of the session, moving higher along with the price of crude oil. Crude for October delivery is currently climbing $0.74 to $44.74 a barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index are up by 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Significant strength is also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones Software Index. Industry giant Microsoft (MSFT) is turning in one of the sector's best performances.

Banking, railroad, and semiconductor stocks are also seeing notable strength, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest upward moves.

Currently, the major averages are posting strong gains, near their highs for the session. The Dow is up 170.13 points or 1 percent at 16,541.09, the Nasdaq is up 38.05 points or 0.8 percent at 4,843.81 and the S&P 500 is up 16.78 points or 0.9 percent at 1,969.81.