After trending lower in recent sessions, stocks are moving notably higher in early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have climbed firmly into positive territory, bouncing off the three-month closing lows set in the previous session.
The major averages have seen some further upside in the past few minutes, reaching new highs for the young session. The Dow is up 73.49 points or 0.6 percent at 12,705.49, the Nasdaq is up 17.31 points or 0.6 percent at 2,911.07 and the S&P 500 is up 9.47 points or 0.7 percent at 1,340.13.
The early strength on Wall Street is partly due to bargain hunting, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels following the recent weakness in the markets.
The markets have also benefited from some upbeat U.S. economic data, including a report from the Federal Reserve showing a much bigger than expected increase in industrial production in April.
The Fed said industrial production increased by 1.1 percent in April, far exceeding economist estimates for an increase of about 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report showing that U.S. housing starts came in above economist estimates in April, although the report also showed a sharp drop in building permits.
The report showed that housing starts rose 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 717,000 in April from the revised March estimate of 699,000. Economists had expected housing starts to increase to 690,000 from the 654,000 originally reported for the previous month.
At the same time, the Commerce Department said that building permits fell 7.0 percent to an annual rate of 715,000 in April from the revised March rate of 769,000. Building permits are seen as an indicator of future housing demand.
Airline stocks have shown a strong move to the upside in early trading, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 1.9 percent. US Airways (LCC) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) are turning in two of the sector's best performances.
Gold, banking, and networking stocks are also seeing early strength, regaining some ground after falling sharply in recent sessions. Most of the other major sectors have also moved higher.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw significant weakness during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plummeted by 3.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed over the course of the trading session. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest weakness, giving back some ground following recent strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.9 basis points at 1.796 percent.
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