Stocks Extend Gains, Nearly Offset Brexit-Inspired Sell-Off - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly higher in morning trading on Friday, adding to the substantial gains posted in the three previous sessions. With the upward move, the major averages have nearly offset the sell-off seen in reaction to the Brexit vote.

In recent trading, the major averages have seen some further upside, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow is up 64.98 points or 0.4 percent at 17,994.97, the Nasdaq is up 34.11 points or 0.7 percent at 4,876.78 and the S&P 500 is up 9.12 points or 0.4 percent at 2,107.98.

The continued strength on Wall Street comes as traders seem to have shrugged off the concerns about the impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Buying interest has also been generated by the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing a much bigger than expected increase by its index of U.S. manufacturing activity.

The ISM said its purchasing managers index jumped to 53.2 in June from 51.3 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the manufacturing sector. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 51.5.

With the bigger than expected increase, the ISM's manufacturing index rose to its highest level since reaching 53.3 in February of 2015.

Rob Carnell, Chief International Economist at ING Commercial Banking, said the number is consistent with a decent but not amazing pace of manufacturing growth.

Gold stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances, resulting in a 3.4 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in well over two years.

The strength among gold stocks comes amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for August delivery surging up $19.70 to $1,340.30 an ounce.

Significant strength is also visible among energy stocks, which are moving higher along with the price of crude oil. Crude for August delivery is climbing $0.26 to $48.59 a barrel.

Steel, biotechnology, internet, and housing stocks are also seeing notable strength, while weakness is visible among electronic storage stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

The major European markets have also shown strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has surged up by 1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back well off their best levels but continue to see modest strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.8 basis points at 1.470 percent.