TradingMarkets Mid-Day Movers

The major averages are
moving more firmly into positive territory through morning trading
on Wednesday, as stocks are regaining some ground after falling
sharply in the previous session. Bargain hunting has contributed
to the upward move by the broader markets.

The markets are benefiting
from significant strength in the telecommunications, computer
hardware, and networking sectors. Sprint Nextel
(
S |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is
helping to lead the telecom sector back to the upside after
reporting better than expected fourth quarter adjusted earnings.

Crude prices are currently trading
higher by 0.3% to $60.42 per barrel.  Gold futures for April
delivery are trading fractionally higher to $668.00 an ounce
.

Around Asia, markets continued to
close lower.  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 2.5% and Tokyo’s
Nikkei dropped 2.85%.  On a positive note, the Shanghai
Composite rose nearly 4% to offset some of Tuesday’s harsh selloff.

The
PowerRatings
Heat Maps*
from Tuesday’s close is showing action that has historically led to strength in
the overall market with
the Drug and Transportation sectors looking the strongest.



Stocks in
Motion

Sprint Nextel
(
S |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Q4 Profit Rises 33% On Top Line
Growth; Backs FY07 Revenue Forecast (full
story
). S shares move jump by 5.7% in early trading.

Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Guides Q1; Raises FY07 EPS
Outlook (full
story
).  MRK shares rise by 2%.

Wynn Resorts
(
WYNN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Q4 Net Loss Widens,
But Adj. Net Income Soars (full
story
).  WYNN shares gain 3%.

King Pharmaceuticals
(
KG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Swings To Profit
In Q4, Revenues Up 21% (full
story
).  KG shares move higher by 5.2%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Dow

+63.61 12,279.85

NASDAQ

+9.30 2,417.16

S&P 500

+10.11 1,409.15

 

NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

1,832,991,000 1,240,480,000

Advances

2072 1638

Declines

1044 1240

Up Volume

1263 783

Down Volume

376 339

New Highs

50 44

New Lows

26 71



Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors

North American Telecom Index (XTC) Morgan Stanley Healthcare Providers Index (RXH)
Computer Hardware Index (HWI) Amex Airline Index (XAL)
GSTI Hardware Index (GHA) GSTI Semiconductor Index (GSM)


Economic
News

GDP-prelim +2.2% vs +2.3%
consensus, prior +3.5%

Chain Deflator-prelim +1.7%
vs +1.5% consensus, prior 1.5%

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com