Stocks Seeing Modest Strength On Final Trading Day Of The Year - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved higher at the start of trading on Tuesday after showing a lack of direction throughout the previous session and closing roughly flat. The major averages all moved to the upside, although buying interest has remained somewhat subdued.

The major averages have not seen much follow-through on their initial upward move but remain in positive territory. The Dow is up 34.80 points or 0.2 percent at 16,539.09, the Nasdaq is up 10.78 points or 0.3 percent at 4,164.98 and the S&P 500 is up 4.18 points or 0.2 percent at 1,845.25.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflects window dressing on the final trading day of the year, as some mutual fund managers look to improve their yearly performance.

Nonetheless, many traders remain on the sidelines ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday, likely leading to choppy trading over the remainder of the session.

Traders have largely shrugged off the mixed batch of economic data released this morning, including a report from the Conference Board showing a bigger than expected rebound by consumer confidence.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 78.1 in December from 72.0 in November. Economists had expected the index to climb to 76.8 from the 70.4 originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report from Standard & Poor's showed that home prices rose at the fastest annual rate in over seven years in October, while MNI Indicators released a report showing a bigger than expected slowdown in the pace of growth in Chicago-area business activity in December.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves in early trading, reflecting the relatively lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Gold stocks are seeing significant strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 2.1 percent. The index is rebounding after tumbling by 2.6 percent on Monday.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Tuesday, although several markets were closed for holidays. China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.

European stocks also moved to the upside amid an abbreviated trading session. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.3 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index ended the day up by 0.5 percent. The German markets remained closed.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest weakness but remain off their recent lows. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.3 basis points at 2.989 percent.