WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, regaining ground following the sell-off see last week. The major averages gave back ground after an early advance but have moved back to the upside since then.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 573.49 points or 1.4 percent at 40,918.90, the Nasdaq is up 196.63 points or 1.2 percent at 16,887.46 and the S&P 500 is up 67.60 points or 1.3 percent at 5,476.02.
The rally on Wall Street comes as traders look to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the steep drop seen last week, which dragged the Nasdaq down to its lowest levels in nearly a month.
Optimism the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month has also contributed to the strength on Wall Street despite lingering concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Meanwhile, traders continue to look ahead to the release of closely watched reports on consumer and producer price inflation later this week.
The reports are expected to show a slowdown by the annual rate of consumer price growth but an acceleration by the annual rate of producer price growth.
While the Fed is almost universally expected to begin lowering interest rates later this month, the data could impact expectations about the pace of rate cuts.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 73 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by 27 basis points and a 29 percent chance of a 50 basis point rate cut.
Sector News
Airline stocks continue to see substantial strength on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 2.4 percent to its best intraday level in over a month.
JetBlue (JBLU) has helped lead the sector higher, spiking by 8.7 percent after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the airline's stock to Neutral from Underperform.
Considerable strength also remains visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the KBW Bank Index.
Semiconductor, computer hardware and networking stocks are also seeing notable strength on the day, while telecom stocks have moved to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.5 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly higher over the course of the session after seeing early weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.5 basis points at 3.695 percent.
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