Stocks Turning In A Lackluster Performance In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in early trading on Wednesday after turning lower over the course of the previous session. The major averages are showing only modest moves, although the Nasdaq is pulling back further off its recent highs.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses on the day. The Dow is down 41.01 points or 0.2 percent at 17,970.13, the Nasdaq is down 19.82 points or 0.4 percent at 4,974.91 and the S&P 500 is down 0.46 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 2,091.04.

The choppy trading on Wall Street is partly due to uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following the volatility seen over the past few weeks.

Traders also remain focused on the outlook for interest rates following the release of a disappointing report on durable goods orders.

The Commerce Department report showed that durable goods orders fell by 1.4 percent in February compared to expectations for a 0.7 percent increase.

The report also showed a 1.4 percent drop in orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched indicator of capital spending.

Peter Boockvar, managing director at the Lindsey Group, said, "Bottom line, the softness in capital spending is more than just from the oil and gas industry and the core cap-ex component on an absolute spending level is at the lowest level since May 2014."

"I understand why the Fed is so reluctant to raise rates in the face of soft economic data, but I also know that zero rates has resulted in corporate behavior that is more interested in short term fixes to the stock price rather than long term thinking on investment," he added.

Despite the choppy trading, biotechnology stocks have shown a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 1.7 percent.

With the drop on the day, the biotechnology index is pulling back further off the record intraday high that it set last Friday.

Semiconductor and software stocks are also seeing early weakness, while energy stocks are moving higher along with the price of crude oil.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved slightly lower after trending higher over the past few weeks. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by nearly a basis point at 1.887 percent.