Stocks Seeing Modest Weakness In Reaction To Earnings News - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session, stocks are seeing modest weakness in morning trading on Friday. The major averages have dipped into negative territory after ending Thursday's trading roughly flat.

While the major averages have climbed off their lows of the session, they remain in negative territory. The Dow is down 56.62 points or 0.3 percent at 21,555.16, the Nasdaq is down 9.76 points or 0.2 percent at 6,380.24 and the S&P 500 is down 5.29 points or 0.2 percent at 2,468.16.

A negative reaction to earnings news from some big-name companies is weighing on Wall Street, with shares of General Electric (GE) showing a notable decline.

GE is currently down by 3.5 percent after the conglomerate reported better than expected second quarter earnings but warned of full-year profits at the low end of its forecasts.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) are also seeing some weakness on the day even though the software giant reported fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded forecasts.

On the other hand, credit card giant Visa (V) is posting a notable gain after reporting fiscal third quarter results that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Overall trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

Uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets may also contribute to choppy trading following the recent move to record highs by the major averages.

Nonetheless, oil service stocks have shown a significant move to the downside in morning trading, resulting in a 1.7 percent drop by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

The weakness among oil service stocks comes amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for September delivery sliding $0.76 to $46.16 a barrel.

Electronic storage and semiconductor stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

European stocks have also moved mostly lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are slumping by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the upside after closing roughly flat for two straight days. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.3 basis points at 2.243 percent.