After moving sharply higher at the open, stocks have given back some ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday but remain mostly positive. The gains on the day are partly offsetting the steep losses posted in the previous session.
The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering in positive territory. The Dow is up 125.17 points or 0.8 percent at 16,183.52, the Nasdaq is up 34.35 points or 0.7 percent at 4,670.46 and the S&P 500 is up 10.81 points or 0.6 percent at 1,924.66.
The initial strength on Wall Street was partly due to bargain hunting, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels following the steep drop seen on Tuesday.
Traders also reacted positively to the release of payroll processor ADP's report on private sector employment in the month of August.
The report showed a notable increase in private sector employment during the month, although the pace of job growth fell short of economist estimates.
ADP said private sector employment climbed by 190,000 jobs in August following a downwardly revised increase of 177,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected employment to jump by about 210,000 jobs compared to the increase of 185,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed that labor productivity jumped by much more than previously estimated in the second quarter.
However, stocks were unable to sustain the early upward move and gave back some ground amid a pullback by the price of crude oil.
Crude oil for October delivery is tumbling $1.90 to $43.51 a barrel following the release of government data showing a sharp increase in crude oil inventories in the week ended August 28th.
Later in the day, trading could be impacted by reaction to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. The report is due to be released at 2 pm ET.
The Beige Book, which contains anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts, could impact the outlook for interest rates.
Sector News
While many of the major sectors are showing only modest moves in mid-day trading, substantial strength is visible among airline stocks. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Airline Index is up by 2.3 percent.
Republic Airways (RJET) and Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings (HA) are turning in two of the sector's best performances.
Trucking stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, resulting in a 1.5 percent gain by the Dow Jones Trucking Index. C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) and Heartland Express (HTLD) are posting notable gains.
On the other hand, significant weakness has emerged among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector comes as gold for December delivery is sliding $4.50 to $1,135.30 an ounce.
Energy stocks have also come under pressure on the day, with the pullback by the price of crude oil weighing on the sector.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day moderately higher. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly higher after seeing early weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.2 basis points at 2.16 percent.
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