U.S. Stocks Seeing Further Upside Amid Continued Tech Strength

Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, extending the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages have all moved to the upside after turning in a mixed performance last week.

Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Dow is up 192.44 points or 0.4 percent at 48,327.33, the Nasdaq is up 92.70 points or 0.4 percent at 23,400.32 and the S&P 500 is up 30.46 points or 0.5 percent at 6,864.96.

The markets continue to benefit from strength among technology stocks, which helped lead the way higher last Thursday and Friday.

Shares of Oracle (ORCL) are jumping by 2.4 percent after Wells Fargo reiterated its Overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) is also seeing further uspide after a report from Reuters said the company has told Chinese clients it aims to start shipping its second-most powerful AI chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

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

Some traders may also be away from their desks as they look to get a head start on the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday.

Reports on durable goods orders, third quarter GDP, industrial production and consumer confidence are still likely to attract attention on Tuesday.

Sector News

Gold stocks are seeing substantial strength amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.9 percent to a record intraday high.

A surge by the price of crude oil is also contributing to significant strength among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

Steel, telecom and networking stocks are also seeing notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged by 1.8 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.5 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the downward move seen during last Friday’s session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.8 basis points at 4.169 percent.