Stocks Continue To Turn In A Mixed Performance - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders continuing to digest President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory, stocks are turning in a mixed performance in mid-day trading on Thursday.

While the Dow remains positive after reaching a new record intraday high in early trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has pulled back firmly into negative territory.

Currently, the Dow is up 138.47 points or 0.7 percent at 18,728.16, while the Nasdaq is down 70.71 points or 1.4 percent at 5,180.37 and the S&P 500 is down 3.41 points or 0.2 percent at 2,159.85.

The gain by the Dow is partly due to a significant advance by shares of drug giant Pfizer (PFE), which have jumped 4.4 percent.

Pfizer has benefited from a report from Reuters indicating the company is evaluating a potential sale or spin-off of its consumer health division that could value the unit at as much as $14 billion.

Strong gains by IBM (IBM), General Electric (GE), and JPMorgan (JPM) have also contributed to the continued upward move by the Dow.

The advance by JPMorgan (JPM) is indicative of strength throughout the financial sector amid optimism about reduced regulation under Trump.

Reflecting the strength in the financial sector, the Dow Jones Banks Index is up by 3.4 percent and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index is up by 3 percent.

Steel, transportation, oil service, and biotechnology stocks are also adding to recent gains amid optimism they will benefit in the new Trump administration.

Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) are posting steep losses on the day, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Gold stocks have also come under pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 5.5 percent. The weakness in the sector comes as the price of gold for December delivery is sliding $10.70 to $1,262.80 an ounce.

Significant weakness is also visible among utilities stocks, which have fallen sharply along with treasuries following Trump's upset victory.

Semiconductor, internet, and software stocks have also shown notable declines, reflecting overall weakness in the tech sector.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report before the start of trading showing a bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended November 5th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 254,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 265,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 263,000.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw substantial strength during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index soared by 6.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have climbed off their worst levels but continue to see modest weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1 basis point at 2.082 percent.