8th Sep 2014 14:39
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Extending the lackluster trend seen over the past several sessions, stocks are showing a lack of direction in early trading on Monday. The major averages have turned mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbing modestly above the unchanged line.
Currently, the major averages remain on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq is up 6.76 points or 0.2% at 4,589.66, the Dow is down 40.87 points or 0.2% at 17,096.49 and the S&P 500 is down 5.67 points or 0.3% at 2,002.04.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders express some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following last week's disappointing jobs report.
While many analysts expect the weak job growth reported last Friday to be a temporarily blip in light of other largely upbeat economic data, traders still seem reluctant to continue buying stocks.
The Dow and the S&P 500 both remain near record highs, while the Nasdaq is close to its best levels in over fourteen years.
The lackluster performance also comes amid a quiet day on the US economic front, with traders looking ahead to the release of a closely watched report on retail sales later in the week.
Nonetheless, resource stocks are seeing notable weakness on the day following the release of Chinese trade data pointing to sluggish domestic demand in the world's second largest economy.
While the report from Chinese Customs said exports jumped 9.4 year-over-year in August, imports unexpectedly fell by 2.4% compared to the same month a year ago.
The Chinese trade surplus subsequently widened to a record high USD49.8 billion in August from USD47.3 billion in July.
Gold stocks are seeing considerable weakness in early trading, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.3%. The weakness in the sector comes as gold for December delivery is sliding USD8.20 to USD1,259.10 an ounce.
Energy and steel stocks are also seeing early weakness, while notable strength has emerged among electronic storage stocks.
Among individual stocks, share of Campbell Soup (CPB) are moving lower in early trading after the soup maker reported weaker than expected fourth quarter sales and provided disappointing guidance.
Auto giant Ford (F) is also seeing early weakness after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the company's stock to Underweight from Overweight.
On the other hand, shares of Yahoo (YHOO) have moved to the upside after Alibaba said it plans to raise as much as USD21.1 billion in an initial public offering. Yahoo holds a 22.5% stake in the Chinese e-commerce company.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.2%.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index has climbed just above the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2% and the UK's FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.5%.
In the bond market, treasuries are moving back to the upside after turning lower over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.8 basis points at 2.423%.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX