U.S. Stocks Turning In Mixed Performance Amid Choppy Trading

Following the strong performance seen last week, stocks have fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday. While the Nasdaq has remained stuck in negative territory, the Dow and the S&P 500 have spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is up 50.56 points or 0.2 percent at 33,798.42, the Nasdaq is down 76.88 points or 0.7 percent at 11,246.45 and the S&P 500 is down 6.64 points or 0.2 percent at 3,986.29.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders express some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following last week’s rally.

With the upward move seen last Friday, the Dow reached a nearly three-month closing high, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 jumped to their best closing levels in almost two months.

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

Reports on producer prices, retail sales, import and export prices, industrial production, housing starts and existing home sales are likely to attract attention in the coming days.

Traders are likely to look to the reports for additional clues about the strength of the economy and the outlook for interest rates.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Brokerage stocks are seeing considerable weakness, however, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index falling by 1.5 percent after ending last Friday’s trading at its best closing level in over seven months.

Notable weakness is also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent drop by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Commercial real estate, gold and retail stocks have also moved to the downside, while strength has emerged among pharmaceutical and steel stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground following the spike seen last Thursday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.5 basis points at 3.884 percent.

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