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

(RTTNews) - With traders taking a breather following recent gains, stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in early trading on Thursday. The major averages are holding close to the unchanged after closing firmly positive in the two previous sessions.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 14.25 points or 0.1 percent at 17,730.91, the Nasdaq is up 11.43 points or 0.2 percent at 4,880.72 and the S&P 500 is up 1.61 points or 0.1 percent at 2,065.56.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

The report is expected to show an increase of about 210,000 jobs in March after employment jumped by 242,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.9 percent.

Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, said, "After Chair Yellen dampened expectations of a Fed move in April, all eyes turn to Friday's employment report to gauge whether the Fed will lean toward June or push the next rate hike into the second half of the year."

Traders may also be expressing uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets after recent gains lifted the major averages to their best levels in about three months.

In addition to tomorrow's monthly employment report, the earnings reporting season is also looming on the horizon.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report before the start of trading showing a modest increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended March 26th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 276,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 265,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 266,000.

A separate report from MNI Indicators showed a stronger than expected rebound by Chicago-area business activity in the month of March.

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

Biotechnology stocks have shown a strong move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index surging up by 2.7 percent.

Medivation (MDVN) is leading the biotech sector higher after Reuters reported the cancer drug maker has been working with JPMorgan (JPM) to handle potential takeover offers.

Electronic storage and natural gas stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while railroad stocks have come under pressure.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.7 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index jumped by 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has slumped by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly higher, offsetting the pullback seen in the previous session. 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 1.814 percent.