Mixed Data Leads To Early Volatility On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders digesting a mixed batch of U.S. economic data, stocks have shown some volatility in early trading on Thursday. The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line after ending the previous session firmly in the red.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance, although they are all nearly flat. While the Dow is up 2.85 points or less than 0.1 percent at 16,271.84, the Nasdaq is down 3.06 points or 0.1 percent at 4,170.52 and the S&P 500 is down 0.35 points or less than 0.1 percent at 1,852.21.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders digest the latest economic data, including reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales.

The Labor Department released a report before the start of trading showing that initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to a nearly four-month low last week.

The report showed that initial jobless claims fell to 311,000 in the week ended March 22nd, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 321,000.

While the decrease surprised economists and points to strength in the labor market, the data has renewed concerns about the outlook for monetary policy.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors recently released a report showing that pending home sales fell for the eighth straight month in February.

NAR said its pending home sales index dropped by 0.8 percent to 93.9 in February after edging down by 0.2 percent to a downwardly revised 94.7 in January.

With the decrease, NAR said the pending home sales index fell to its lowest level since hitting 92.2 in October of 2011.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing an upward revision to fourth quarter GDP growth, although the data has largely been shrugged off as old news.

While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, notable strength is visible among telecom stocks. Sprint (S) is posting a strong gain after forming a shared network alliance with NetAmerica.

Oil service, steel, and gold stocks are also seeing some strength in early trading, while airline stocks are moving to the downside.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are down by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction on the heels of the mixed data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 2.699 percent.