U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Higher In Light Trading

After ending yesterday’s lackluster session modestly higher, stocks are seeing further upside during trading on Tuesday.

The major averages fluctuated early in the session but are currently all in positive territory. The Dow is up 137.23 points or 0.4 percent at 34,081.63, the Nasdaq is up 40.01 points or 0.3 percent at 13,725.49 and the S&P 500 is up 13.36 points or 0.3 percent at 4,422.89.

Oil stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Oil Index up by 1.5 percent to a two-month intraday high.

The strength among oil stocks comes amid a sharp increase by the price of the crude oil, with crude for August delivery jumping $1.59 to $74.58 a barrel.

Considerable strength is also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain being posted by the KBW Bank Index.

Computer hardware, natural gas and oil service stocks are also seeing notable strength, while airline stocks have moved back to the downside.

Overall trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders continue to look ahead to the release of closely watched data on consumer and producer price inflation later in the week.

The inflation data may have a considerable impact on the outlook for interest rates following last week’s mixed monthly jobs report.

The annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, is expected to slow to 5.0 percent from 5.3 percent.

Ahead of the inflation data, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is indicating a 92.4 percent chance of another quarter point rate hike at the next Fed meeting later this month.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. While Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index closed just above the unchanged line, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.6 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.0 percent.

Most European stocks have also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has bucked the uptrend and is down by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2 basis points at 3.986 percent.

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