Major Averages Posting Substantial Gains In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved sharply higher in early trading on Thursday, extending the strong upward move seen in the previous session. The major averages have climbed firmly into positive territory, further offsetting the losses posted early in the New Year.

Optimism about the outlook for monetary policy is contributing to the early strength on Wall Street following yesterday's release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.

While the minutes did not offer much new information, they seemed to reassure traders that the Fed will not start raising interest rates before late April.

Remarks from Chicago Fed President Charles Evens suggesting that it could be a "catastrophe" to begin raising rates too early has also eased concerns about the outlook for monetary policy.

Early buying interest has also been generated by a continued recovery by the price of crude oil, which is climbing further off Tuesday's five-year closing low.

Technology stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside in early trading, contributing to a notable advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Reflecting the strength in the tech sector, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the NYSE Arca Networking Index are all jumping by more than 2.5 percent.

Considerable strength is also visible among oil stocks, which are moving higher along with the price of crude oil. Chemical, pharmaceutical, and housing stocks are also seeing significant strength amid broad based buying interest.

In recent trading, the major averages have pulled back off their highs for the young session, but they are holding on to strong gains. The Dow is up 243.81 points or 1.4 percent at 17,828.33, the Nasdaq is up 67.23 points or 1.5 percent at 4,717.70 and the S&P 500 is up 27.32 points or 1.4 percent at 2,053.22.