Mid-Day Recap: Equities Up Modestly in Slow Trading

The US dollar continues to weaken after a pause on Monday, boosting appetite for dollar-denominated commodities and pushing share prices up. Crude oil halted a three-day decline and gained $1.34 to $71.05, with gold and silver following suit.

Approaching Noon in Tuesday’s session, all three major indexes are climbing enough to reverse any declines from Monday’s directionless session. The S&P 500 has risen 0.57% to 1,070.61, putting the benchmark index less than 2 points from the 11-month high hit last week. The Nasdaq is up 0.33% to 2,145 and the Dow is up 0.36% to 9,814.

“More than anything else, we are seeing a reaction to the incredible weakness of the dollar,” said Addison Armstrong of Tradition Energy, to Bloomberg News. “Yesterday, the dollar strengthened and oil fell more than $2. Now the dollar’s plunged to the lowest level against the euro in a year and look what’s happened.”

The US dollar has lost 0.79% to the Euro this morning, allowing the latter to hit a fresh high for 2009. The dollar is also down 1.11% compared to the Sterling, 1.08% compared to the Yen, and 0.79% compared to the Canadian Dollar.

Data this morning has been slow. A government agency said home prices were stabilizing, two weekly retail surveys showed sales slowing down in the third week of September, and a regional manufacturing survey from the Richmond Fed was in positive territory for the fifth straight month.

Heading into the afternoon, fixed income markets will be key as the Treasury holds a $43 billion auction for 2-Year Notes at 1:00 EDT. Despite the rise in equities this morning â€