Tech Stocks Help Lead Substantial Rebound On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, more than offsetting the weakness seen in the previous session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly strong rebound.

The major averages saw further upside in late-day trading, closing near their highs of the session. The Dow surged 599.10 points or 1.8 percent to 33,544.34, the Nasdaq soared 367.40 points or 2.9 percent to 12,948.62 and the S&P 500 spiked 89.34 points or 2.1 percent to 4,262.45.

The rebound on Wall Street following the downturn on Monday partly reflected bargain hunting, as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.

The drop seen on Monday dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq down to its lowest closing level in over a year, while the S&P 500 finished the day just above the nearly nine-month closing low set last Tuesday.

The markets continue to search for the bottom following the intense selling sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent spike in oil prices.

A continued sharp pullback by the price of crude oil also generated buying interest, with crude for April delivery plunging $6.57 to $96.44 a barrel after tumbling $6.32 to $103.01 a barrel on Monday.

Traders also reacted positively to a report from the Labor Department showing producer prices increased by slightly less than expected in the month of February.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.8 percent in February after surging by an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in January.

Economists had expected producer prices to advance by 0.9 percent compared to the 1.0 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding prices for food, energy and trade services, core producer prices edged up by 0.2 percent in February following a 0.8 percent increase in January.

Meanwhile, traders seemingly shrugged off concerns about higher interest rates even as the Federal Reserve prepares to announced its first rate hike since 2018 on Wednesday.

Sector News

Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 5.6 percent.

United Airlines (UAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Southwest Airlines (LUV) posted strong gains after all three airlines raised their revenue outlooks.

Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, which regained ground after falling sharply during trading on Monday.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiked by 4.4 percent after ending Monday's trading at its lowest closing level in almost ten months.

Retail stocks also showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 3.1 percent.

Housing, networking, tobacco and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable strength, while energy stocks bucked the uptrend amid the continued nosedive by the price of crude oil.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Tuesday. China's Shanghai Composite Index plunged by 5 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plummeted by 5.7 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.2 percent.

European stocks also moved to the downside on the day but closed well off their worst levels. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a notable downturn after seeing early strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2 basis points to 2.160 percent after hitting a low of 2.078 percent.

Looking Ahead

The Fed announcement will be in the spotlight on Wednesday, although traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on retail sales, import and exports prices, and homebuilder confidence.