U.S. Stocks Seeing Modest Strength As Banking Concerns Ebb

(RTTNews) - Stocks are seeing modest strength during trading on Monday, adding to the notable gains posted last week. The major averages have given back ground after an early move to the upside but remain in positive territory.

Currently, the Dow is up 147.15 points or 0.5 percent at 32,384.68 and the S&P 500 is up 11.50 points or 0.3 percent at 3,982.49. The Nasdaq is posting a more modest gain after outperforming its counterparts last week, inching up 5.97 points or 0.1 percent to 11,829.93.

The modest strength on Wall Street comes as traders look to build on last week's gains as fears of a global banking crisis have once again eased following the latest developments in the sector.

Shares of First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) are soaring after the company an agreement with the FDIC to purchase substantially all deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank.

The FDIC said the transaction included the purchase of about $72 billion of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank's assets at a discount of $16.5 billion.

U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) have also shown a strong move back to the upside after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted the bank remains profitable and said there's no reason to doubt its future.

Overall trading activity remains somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

Later in the week, traders are likely to keep a close eye on a report on personal income and spending in the month of February, as it includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

With the Fed signaling last week that it expects just one more interest rate increase this year, traders will look to the data for clues about the timing of the final rate hike.

Banking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the KBW Bank Index up by 2.1 percent. The index continues to regain ground after ending last Thursday's trading at its lowest closing level over two years.

Considerable strength is also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.

Oil service and pharmaceutical stocks are also seeing notable strength, while gold stocks have moved to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both up by 0.9 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving sharply higher over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 10.3 basis points at 3.483 percent.