U.S. Stocks Extend Rally Amid Easing Worries About Speculative Trading

Following the substantial rebound seen in the previous session, stocks have shown another strong move to the upside in morning trading on Tuesday. The major averages have all climbed firmly into positive territory but remain well off their record highs.

Currently, the major averages are hovering near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 521.82 points or 1.7 percent at 30,733.73, the Nasdaq is up 158.04 points or 1.2 percent at 13,561.43 and the S&P 500 is up 55.76 points or 1.5 percent at 3,829.62.

The continued strength on Wall Street comes as stocks that recently benefited from the retail trading frenzy are giving back ground.

Video game retailer GameStop (GME), which is seen as the poster child for the so-called “retail investor revolt,” is plummeting by more than 50 percent after plunging by more than 30 percent on Monday.

Shares of AMC Entertainment (AMC) are also seeing considerable weakness after the movie theater chain ended the previous session modestly higher.

The markets have also benefited from a positive reaction to the latest earnings news, with Exxon Mobil (XOM) likely moving notably higher after reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings.

Traders also remain optimistic about more fiscal stimulus after President Joe Biden met with a group of ten Republican Senators who have offered a counterproposal to his $1.9 trillion relief plan.

Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, called the meeting “very productive” and said the two sides plan to continue negotiations.

A White House statement also described the meeting as “productive” but noted that Democrats could still use the reconciliation process to pass a relief bill without Republican support.

Banking stocks are seeing substantial strength amid easing concerns about the retail trading frenzy, with the KBW Bank Index spiking by 2.8 percent.

Significant strength is also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.

Oil stocks are also turning in a strong performance in morning trading, resulting in a 1.6 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Oil Index.

The rally by oil stocks comes amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for March delivery jumping $1.36 to $54.91 a barrel.

Retail, transportation and utilities stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while gold stocks are bucking the uptrend amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.

In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw further upside during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets are also adding to yesterday’s gains. While the French CAC 40 Index has surged by 1.8 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 1.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside, more than offsetting the rebound seen on Monday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.3 basis points at 1.110 percent.

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