Stocks Moving Mostly Higher In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved modestly higher in early trading on Wednesday, extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions. The major averages have all climbed into positive, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq rising to its best levels since 2000.

The major averages have seen some further upside in the past few minutes, reaching new highs for the young session. The Dow is up 29.73 points or 0.2 percent at 16,102.53, the Nasdaq is up 15.65 points or 0.4 percent at 4,033.40 and the S&P 500 is up 5.10 points or 0.3 percent at 1,807.85.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflects a positive reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended November 23rd.

The report said initial jobless claims slid to 316,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 326,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 330,000.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing a pullback in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of October.

The report said durable goods orders fell by 2.0 percent in October after jumping by an upwardly revised 4.1 percent in September. The drop in orders matched economist estimates.

Excluding a decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged down by a more modest 0.1 percent in October compared to a 0.2 percent increase in September.

Computer hardware stocks have shown a strong upward move in early trading, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 1.4 percent. With the gain, the index has reached a record high.

Tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is leading the hardware sector higher, jumping by 8.7 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results. The company also provided first quarter and full-year earnings guidance in line with estimates.

Housing and steel stocks are also seeing notable strength, while most of the major sectors have shown more modest upward moves.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back some ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.5 basis points at 2.721 percent.