U.S. stock indexes were up modestly midday Wednesday with blue chips showing the most strength.
The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5%, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added 0.1% each. The small cap Russell 2000 also inched up 0.1%. Volume in the stock market today was running slightly lower on the NYSE and a bit higher on the Nasdaq.
In the price-weighted Dow, the day's biggest percentage gainer among the highest priced stocks were Goldman Sachs (GS) and 3M Company (MMM). Each rose almost 1%. Merck (MRK) scored the biggest pop, up 3%. But Merck's price is roughly 62, giving far less weight in the Dow than Goldman's 244 price and 3M's 177.
Meanwhile, biotech stocks tumbled as President-elect Donald Trump bashed the high-end drugmakers in a news conference. The biotech group fell 3.5%.
The Nasdaq was trying to deliver its seventh consecutive daily gain. The tech-leaning index went into Wednesday's session 6-0 for the year. In the Nasdaq 100, First Solar (FSLR) was the biggest percentage gainer, up 5% in average volume. The stock is 52% off its high. Among IBD's 197 industry groups, solar is No. 196 — one notch above the last place gold-mining stocks.
Superregional banks are in first place, but were barely up midday Wednesday. Energy held the biggest gains, with oil drillers and oil machinery joining solar to nail down three of the day's top five positions.
West Texas intermediate crude oil popped more than 2% to more than $52 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 4.1 million barrels for the week. Analysts had expected an increase of less than 1 million barrels.
Oil stocks didn't appear much bothered by the bad news. In the drillers group, 10 stocks rose 3% or more. The biggest percentage gainer was Atwood Oceanics (ATW), up 6% in more than twice its usual volume.
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