Stocks moved to the downside at the start of trading on Thursday but have shown a notable turnaround since then. The major averages have climbed well off their lows of the session and firmly into positive territory.
The major averages have pulled back off their best levels in recent trading but currently remain in the green. The Dow is up 212.50 points or 0.5 percent at 42,177.13, the Nasdaq is up 81.67 points or 0.5 percent at 17,832.46 and the S&P 500 is up 23.05 points or 0.4 percent at 5,698.34.
The rebound on Wall Street came as a report from the National Association of Realtors unexpectedly showing a significant rebound by existing home sales helped ease concerns about the strength of the economy.
NAR said existing home sales surged by 4.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.26 million in February after tumbling by 4.7 percent to a revised rate of 4.09 million in January.
The sharp increase surprised economists, who had expected existing home sales to slump by another 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 3.95 million from the 4.08 million originally reported for the previous month.
Early in the session, traders looked to cash in on yesterday's strong gains amid lingering concerns about the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
The Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged, but forecasts suggest officials still expect to resume cutting rates later this year.
However, the Fed officials also lowered their projections for GDP growth in 2025 to 1.7 percent from 2.1 percent and raised their forecasts for consumer price growth this year to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during his post-meeting press conference that a "good part" of the higher inflation forecast is due to tariffs.
Sector News
Despite the advance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.
Nonetheless, housing stocks have moved notably higher on the upbeat existing home sales data, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.2 percent.
Strength is also visible among retail stocks, while airline stocks have come under pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 1.2 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.2 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing continued strength after turning positive over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 4.4 basis points at 4.212 percent.
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March 21, 2025 09:58 ET Central banks, led by the U.S. Fed, were in focus this week as they announced their latest policy moves. The Fed revealed the latest interest rate decision and outlook mid-week. Economic data released this week in the U.S. included retail sales figures for February. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland, among several others, announced their rate decisions. The Bank of Japan was in the news in Asia as it revealed its latest policy decision.