Major Averages Posting Notable Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving mostly higher in early trading on Wednesday, stocks have continued to perform well over the course of the session. While buying interest has waned since then open, the markets have maintained a positive bias on the day.

Biotechnology stocks have shown a particularly strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2.8 percent. With the gain, the index is climbing further off the three-month closing low that it set on Monday.

ImmunoGen (IMGN) is leading the biotech sector higher, with the developer of targeted anticancer therapeutics surging up by 13.5 percent after Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage of the company's stock with a Buy rating.

Significant strength is also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is posting a standout gain after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings.

Chemical, airline, and natural gas stocks are also seeing notable strength in mid-day trading, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Meanwhile, semiconductor stocks are seeing some weakness on the day despite the better than expected earnings from industry giant Intel (INTC).

Currently, the major averages are posting notable gains, near their highs for the session. The Dow is up 104.97 points or 0.7 percent at 16,367.53, the Nasdaq is up 29.53 points or 0.7 percent at 4,063.69 and the S&P 500 is up 11.54 points or 0.6 percent at 1,854.52.