Stocks Roughly Flat Amid Light Christmas Eve Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in early trading on Thursday after trending higher over the past few sessions. The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, unable to sustain any significant moves.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Nasdaq is up 3.00 points or 0.1 percent at 5,048.93, the Dow is down 41.54 points or 0.2 percent at 17,561.07 and the S&P 500 is down 2.82 points or 0.1 percent at 2,061.47.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as many traders are getting a head start on the upcoming three-day weekend, as the markets will close earlier than usual.

The markets are scheduled to close at 1 pm ET this afternoon in honor of Christmas Eve and remain closed for all of Christmas Day on Friday.

Traders have largely shrugged off a Labor Department report showing that initial jobless claims fell by more than expected in the week ended December 19th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 267,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 272,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 270,000 from the 271,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lack of direction being shown by the broader markets.

Gold stocks are seeing substantial strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumping by 1.8 percent. The strength in the sector comes as gold for February delivery is climbing $5.90 to $1,074.20 an ounce.

Airline and computer hardware stocks have also moved to the upside, while weakness is visible among steel and energy stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance in light trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 percent.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance, with the German markets closed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are regaining some ground after closing lower in the two previous sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.6 basis points at 2.248 percent.