Stocks have moved moderately higher in early trading on Tuesday, adding to the gains posted in the previous session. The major averages have climbed into positive territory, although buying interest seems somewhat subdued.
The early strength on Wall Street may be partly due to comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who said the central bank has not ruled out the possibility of negative deposit rates and other non-standard policy measures.
Nonetheless, traders seem reluctant to make any significant moves as the Federal Reserve begins its two-day monetary policy meeting.
While the Fed is not expected to announce an immediate change in policy when it releases its post-meeting statement on Wednesday, traders will be looking for any signals regarding when the central bank will scale back its stimulus program.
Defense, semiconductor, and oil service stocks are seeing some strength in early trading, although most of the major sectors are showing relatively modest moves.
The major averages have pulled back off their highs for the young session in the past few minutes but are holding on to gains. The Dow is up 56.05 points or 0.4 percent at 15,235.90, the Nasdaq is up 12.30 points or 0.4 percent at 3,464.43 and the S&P 500 is up 3.82 points or 0.2 percent at 1,642.86.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com