Stocks Close Roughly Flat Following Lackluster Trading Day - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders seemingly reluctant to make any significant moves, stocks turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Monday. The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a modest gain.

The Nasdaq inched up 5.00 points or 0.1 percent to a nearly fifteen-year high of 4,960.97, while the Dow dipped 23.60 points or 0.1 percent to 18,116.84 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.64 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,109.66.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the outlook for the markets following recent strength.

The modest losses posted by the Dow and the S&P 500 came after they ended last Friday's trading at new record closing highs.

Traders also seemed to be staying on the sidelines ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before the House and Senate.

Yellen's remarks over the next two days are likely to be closely analyzed for hints about the outlook for interest rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a bigger than expected drop in existing home sales in the month of January.

NAR said existing home sales tumbled 4.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.82 million in January from an upwardly revised 5.07 million in December. Economists had expected existing home sales to fall to a rate of 4.95 million.

With the bigger than expected decrease, existing home sales fell to their lowest rate since hitting 4.75 million last April.

Sector News

Reflecting the lackluster close by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the session showing only modest moves.

Steel stocks saw substantial weakness, however, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index tumbling by 2.3 percent. Mechel (MTL), Ternium (TX) and A.M. Castle (CAS) turned in some of the sector's worst performances.

Considerable weakness was also visible among oil service stocks, which moved lower along with the price of crude oil. With crude for April delivery falling $1.36 to $49.45 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index dropped by 1.5 percent.

Telecom, computer hardware, and internet stocks also moved to the downside on the day, while strength was visible among biotechnology, commercial real estate, and trucking stocks. Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed modestly below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both climbed by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries saw considerable strength, offsetting the weakness seen in the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 7.4 basis points to 2.059 percent.

Looking Ahead

While Yellen's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee is likely to be in focus on Tuesday, trading could also be impacted by reports on home prices and consumer confidence.