Wednesday's early afternoon trade: strong retail earnings help stocks bounce off lows

US stocks rose from their session lows on Wednesday as gains in online travel company Booking Holdings and retailer TJX helped offset losses in healthcare stocks. Booking Holdings, formerly known as Priceline, rose 7.7 percent after reporting upbeat quarterly profit, helped by higher hotel bookings.
Off-price apparel seller TJX jumped about 10 percent after posting upbeat same-store sales. Their shares along with those of big tech companies helped lift the S&P 500. About 76 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have topped profit estimates, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. That is above the average 72 percent recorded in the past four quarters.
"There is positive economic fundamentals and corporate earnings. While valuations are somewhat elevated, they are not at extremes," said Bill Northey, senior vice president, US Bank Wealth Management, in Helena, Montana. At 12:35 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.15 percent at 25,371.62. The S&P 500 rose 0.03 percent to 2,745 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.16 percent to 7,341.95.
Celgene's 8 percent drop was a drag on the healthcare sector after US health regulators rejected the company's application seeking approval of a multiple sclerosis drug.