While the Dow is adding to yesterday's strong gain in morning trading on Tuesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is extending the sharp pullback seen over the course of the previous session.
Currently, the major averages are turning in another mixed performance. The Dow is up 236.30 points or 0.8 percent at 29,394.27, but the S&P 500 is down 5.49 points or 0.2 percent at 3,545.01 and the Nasdaq is down 151.70 points or 1.3 percent at 11,562.08.
The mixed performance on Wall Street comes as traders continue to cycle out of tech stocks that benefited from the coronavirus pandemic and into cyclical stocks that struggled.
Stocks that benefited from the coronavirus-induced lockdowns such as Zoom (ZM) and Amazon (AMZN) are seeing further downside after falling sharply on Monday.
The shift comes as upbeat news about a coronavirus vaccine being developed by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) has generated optimism business may return to normal next year.
However, there could be more pain between now and then, as coronavirus cases in the U.S. continue to spike and have now topped 10 million.
Even the most optimistic projections suggest it will take months to distribute a vaccine, suggesting yesterday's spike to record highs may have been overdone.
The Dow is benefiting from an advance by shares of Boeing (BA), which are up by 6.3 percent after a report from Reuters said the FAA is set to lift its grounding order on the aerospace giant's 737 MAX as early as next week.
Tobacco stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside in morning trading, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 3.5 percent. The index is currently on pace to end the session at a nine-month closing high.
Significant strength is also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI) has moved sharply higher after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results, raising its dividend and providing upbeat guidance.
Natural gas, chemical and oil stocks are also seeing considerable strength, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session.
On the other hand, software stocks have shown a significant move to the downside, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 3.3 percent.
CyberArk Software (CYBR) is under pressure after reporting third quarter earnings that beat estimates but on weaker than expected revenue. The cybersecurity company also forecast fourth quarter revenue below expectations.
Semiconductor and gold stocks are also seeing notable weakness, with gold stocks extending yesterday's sell-off despite a rebound by the price of the precious metal.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.1 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has advanced by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both jumping by 1.8 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction following the steep drop seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 0.956 percent.
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