16th May 2014 14:23
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Stocks have moved modestly lower in early trading on Friday, extending the steep downward move seen over the course of the two previous sessions. The major averages have dipped into negative territory, although selling pressure has remained somewhat subdued.
The major averages have edged up off their lows for the young session in recent trading but remain in the red. The Dow is down 21.32 points or 0.1% at 16,425.49, the Nasdaq is down 19.14 points or 0.5% at 4,050.16 and the S&P 500 is down 4.51 points or 0.2% at 1,866.34.
The early weakness that has emerged on Wall Street comes following the release of a report from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan showing an unexpected deterioration in consumer sentiment in the month of May.
The report showed that the consumer sentiment index fell to 81.8 in May from 84.1 in April, while economists expected the index to inch up to a reading of 84.5.
"The main concern behind the small May loss involved dispiriting trends in wages," survey director Richard Curtin said, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, traders seem to have shrugged off a separate report from the Commerce Department showing a much bigger than expected jump in housing starts in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said housing starts surged up 13.2% to an annual rate of 1.072 million in April from the revised March estimate of 947,000. Economists had expected housing starts to climb to a rate of 980,000.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also jumped 8.0% to an annual rate of 1.080 million in April from the revised March rate of 1.0 million.
Networking stocks have shown a notable move to the downside in early trading, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 1.2%. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) has helped to lead the sector lower, falling by 2.8%.
Steel, airline, and biotechnology stocks have also come under pressure, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.4%, while India's Sensex advanced by 0.9%.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.4%, the UK's FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are on opposite sides of the unchanged line,
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest weakness after rising sharply over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.4 basis points at 2.516%.
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