After failing to sustain an early downward move, stocks have turned higher over the course of morning trading on Wednesday. The major averages have bounced well off their lows for the session and into positive territory.
Housing stocks have helped to lead the way back to the upside, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index currently up 4.7 percent after seeing early weakness. The turnaround by the sector comes in spite of the release of a report showing a steep drop in new home sales.
Significant strength has also emerged in a variety of other sectors, contributing to the rebound by the broader markets. Steel, semiconductor, and airline stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances.
On the other hand, some weakness remains visible among pharmaceutical and utilities stocks, with the Amex Pharmaceutical Index and the Dow Jones Utilities Average both currently down more than 1 percent.
The major averages have seen some further upside in recent trading, rising to new highs for the session. The Dow is currently up 70.33 at 8,549.80, the Nasdaq is up 30.24 at 1,494.97 and the S&P 500 is up 6.10 at 863.49.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.