NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Coming off Tuesday afternoon's strong comeback, stocks are trying to keep the positive momentum going on Wednesday.
Technology and basic material stocks are leading the way with Nasdaq Composite (COMP) up around 2% and XLB (XLB) up over 3% in midday trading.
Even Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) managed to recover from early weakness due to a downgrade from Stifel. The investment firm cut its rating for Google from buy to hold, warning that its core search business might suffer due to an increasing competition from Facebook and other social media websites. Even with today's bounce, shares of the Internet giant are less than 6% from their 52-week low.
Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), which accounts for more than 12% of Nasdaq 100 weighting, is also up after starting Wednesday in the red. The iPhone 4S gave birth to plenty of contradictive arguments among investors, but most analysts remain bullish on Apple as a tech sector trend-setter.
Shares of Research in Motion (RIMM) advanced 14% on rumors that the recent sell-off in the BlackBerry maker has turned it into an appetizing takeover target.
In other news today, Yum Brands (YUM, Fortune 500) beat analysts' quarterly EPS by a cent, but its shares still slipped almost 3%. The owner of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut chains continues to grow same-store sales in China with the impressive 19%, but its operating margin are significantly lower due to rising food costs.
These are some of the topics attracting attention on StockTwits, Wednesday:
StockSage1: $GOOG green - fade the analysts $STUDY
jonshado: Analysts still saying fbook is king. Any fact to back that up? Maybe alot of money in selling my personal info? Blech. My money's on $GOOG.
nolavabo: $AAPL would never buy a company that it could grind into dust as a mere side effect of their normal business $RIMM.
HowardWPenney: $YUM's problem child - USA restaurant margin declined 2.3 percentage points and operating profit declined 16%
Retail_Guru: $YUM #s typical: US disappoints on sales & margins while China +19% & emerging markets +7% roar ahead: two speed economy or what #China 
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
| Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
| S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
| Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
| Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
| General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
| Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
Today's featured rates:
