After showing a strong upward move in early trading, stocks have continued to perform well throughout the trading day on Wednesday. While the major averages have not seen much follow-through on the initial rally, they have remained firmly in positive territory.
The markets have benefited from a positive reaction to Alcoa's (AA) first quarter results, with the aluminum giant unexpectedly reporting a profit.
With the release of results from Alcoa seen as the unofficial start of the earnings season, the news has generated some optimism about the outlook for corporate earnings.
Housing stocks have turned in a strong performance on the day, regaining ground after turning in some of the market's worst performances in the previous session. After tumbling by 3.9 percent on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index is up by 3.6 percent.
Significant strength has also emerged among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Adtran (ADTN) is helping to lead the sector higher, surging up by 6.8 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings.
Semiconductor, telecom, brokerage, and defense stocks are also posting notable gains, while gold stocks are bucking the uptrend.
The major averages have moved roughly sideways in afternoon trading, holding on to strong gains. The Dow is up 109.59 points or 0.9 percent at 12,825.52, the Nasdaq is up 25.84 points or 0.9 percent at 3,017.06 and the S&P 500 is up 12.56 points or 0.9 percent at 1,371.15.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.