After an initial pullback, stocks have more than offset their losses and are mostly higher in mid-morning trading on Monday, helped by some upbeat manufacturing data. The major averages are all in positive territory, looking to offset some of last Friday's losses.
The turnaround came after the Institute for Supply Management - Chicago reported that activity in the Chicago-area manufacturing sector continued to expand in November, with the report showing an unexpected acceleration in the pace of growth.
The index of activity in the manufacturing sector rose to 56.1 in November from 54.2 in October, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. The increase by the index surprised economists, who had expected the index to slip to 53.3.
The upside has also come as traders have begun to look past the Dubai financial crisis after the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates said that it would extend additional funds for local and foreign banks to cope with the financial crisis resulting from the failure of Dubai World.
Meanwhile, initial reports from the National Retail Federation revealed that the average consumer spent less on Black Friday this year than last year, although the number of shoppers increased compared to last year.
The major averages have seen some further upside in the past few minutes, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow is currently up 53.28 at 10,363.20, the Nasdaq is up 3.86 at 2,142.30 and the S&P 500 is up 5.51 at 1,097.00.
Sector News
Banking stocks are some of the morning's best performers, with the Kbw Bank Index climbing by 2.3 percent. The day's advance is helping the index to offset the majority of Friday's loss.
Airline stocks are also seeing notable buying interest, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2 percent. The climb has lifted the index to its best intraday level in over a month.
Commercial real estate, brokerage, steel, gold and oil service stocks are also on the rise, taking back some of their recent losses.
Meanwhile, notable weakness has emerged among tobacco stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 1.3 percent. With the pullback, the index has fallen to a three-week intraday low.
Stocks Driven By Analyst Comments
Education Realty Trust (EDR) is moving notably higher in mid-morning trading after being upgraded to Outperform from Neutral by Robert W. Baird, which cited the likely positive impact of the firm's CEO appointment. The broker also raised the target price on the stock to $6 from $5. The stock has jumped by 5.4 percent, bouncing off of Friday's four-month closing low.
American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) is also on the rise following an upgrade by Lazard Capital Markets, which raised its rating on the stock to Buy from Hold. The broker cited the firm's stronger sales over the past few weeks as a reason for the upgrade. The stock is currently up by 2.3 percent, moving further off of last week's two and a half month closing low.
On the other hand, Supervalu (SVU) is retreating after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equalweight citing the firm's likely struggles in its grocery segment. The stock is down by 2.9 percent, setting a four-month intraday low.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stocks markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended sharply higher on Monday, regaining some ground after Friday's pullback. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 2.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 3.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are modestly lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are currently down by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively while and the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent.
In the bond markets, treasuries are showing a lack of conviction. Subsequently, the benchmark ten-year note is essentially unchanged, holding at 3.233 percent.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.