Stocks Close Modestly Higher After Recovering From Early Lows - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After recovering from an early move to the downside, stocks moved modestly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday. With the turnaround on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed higher for the sixth consecutive session.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Dow inched up only 6.10 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 17,678.70. The Nasdaq rose 13.88 points or 0.3 percent to 4,771.76, while the S&P 500 climbed 5.27 points or 0.3 percent to 2,057.09.

The early weakness on Wall Street was partly due to concerns about the political situation in Greece after the anti-austerity Syriza party emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections on Sunday.

Syriza, which has formed a governing coalition with the right-wing Greek Independents, may seek to abandon budget constraints and write off Greek debt.

Nonetheless, selling pressure waned not long after the open as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, although traders are likely to pay close attention to any changes to the accompanying statement.

A lack of major U.S. economic data on the day also kept some traders on the sidelines, with reports on durable goods orders, new home sales, consumer confidence and fourth quarter GDP likely to attract attention in the coming days.

Meanwhile, some traders remained from their desks as a massive snowstorm is expected to dump up to three feet of snow on New York City.

Even with the impending storm, a NYSE spokesman said the stock exchange plans to stay open for normal operating hours on Tuesday.

Sector News

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, significant strength was visible among oil service stocks. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index jumped by 1.9 percent.

Transocean (RIG) helped to lead the oil service sector higher, with the provider of offshore contract drilling services surging up by 5.2 percent.

Housing stocks also showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.9 percent. D.R. Horton (DHI) posted a standout gain after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Biotechnology, railroad, and gold stocks also turned in strong performances on the day, while computer hardware stocks saw notable weakness.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction throughout the session before closing modestly lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1.1 basis points to 1.828 percent.

Looking Ahead

A batch of U.S. economic data may be in focus on Tuesday, with traders likely to keep an eye reports on durable goods orders, new home sales, and consumer confidence.

Trading could also be impacted by reaction to earnings news from software giant Microsoft (MSFT), which is releasing its quarterly results after the close of today's trading.

3M (MM), Caterpillar (CAT), DuPont (DD), and Pfizer (PFE) are also due to release their results before the start of trading on Tuesday.