Stocks Turning In Another Lackluster Performance - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session roughly flat, stocks continue to show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have thus far spent the day lingering near the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is up 3.36 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 18,536.41, the Nasdaq is down 10.62 points or 0.2 percent at 5,214.86 and the S&P 500 is down 2.08 points or 0.1 percent at 2,179.66.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make any significant moves amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

Traders may be looking ahead to the release of reports on retail sales and producer prices, which are scheduled to be posted on Friday.

The Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, may also be drawing attention away from the markets, leading to a lackluster performance on Wall Street.

Recently, the Energy Information Administration released a report showing an increase in crude oil inventories in the week ended August 5th,

The EIA said crude oil inventories climbed by 1.1 million barrels and are at historically high levels for this time of year.

At the same time, the report said gasoline inventories and distillate fuel inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels and 2.0 million barrels last week, respectively.

Following the release of the report, crude oil for September delivery is climbing $0.51 to $43.28 a barrel.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, although gold stocks are seeing considerable strength amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ticked up by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved modestly lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are down by 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength, extending the strong upward move seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its prices is down by 1.9 basis points at 1.526 percent.