Major Averages Lingering Near The Unchanged Line In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - With traders seemingly reluctant to make any significant moves, stocks are showing a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday. The major averages are lingering near the unchanged line after ending the previous session firmly in the red.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders are largely staying on sidelines ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Economists expect the report to show an increase of about 215,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate is expected to come in unchanged at 6.1 percent.

Generating some optimism about the jobs report, the Labor Department released a separate report this morning showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended September 27th.

The report has also added to recent concerns about the outlook for monetary policy, however, with the Federal Reserve due to wrap up its asset purchase program later this month.

While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves in early trading, considerable weakness is visible among energy stocks. The weakness in the sector comes as crude oil for November delivery is falling $0.56 to $90.17 a barrel.

On the other hand, airline stocks have shown a strong move to the upside, regaining some ground after yesterday's sell-off. The NYSE Arca Airline Index is up by 1.4 percent, bouncing off a five-month closing low.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Dow is down 18.50 points or 0.1 percent at 16,786.21, the Nasdaq is down 3.66 points or 0.1 percent at 4,418.42 and the S&P 500 is down 0.41 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 1,945.75.