U.S. Stocks Giving Back Ground Following Recent Strength

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of morning trading on Monday, pulling back off their record highs. The major averages have all moved to the downside after ending last Friday's trading mixed.

Currently, the major averages are stuck firmly in negative territory. The Dow is down 165.87 points or 0.6 percent at 28,479.39, the Nasdaq is down 76.10 points or 0.8 percent at 8,930.52 and the S&P 500 is down 18.55 points or 0.6 percent at 3,221.47.

The weakness on Wall Street partly reflects profit taking, with traders cashing in on the recent strength in the markets ahead of the new year.

Trading activity remains relatively subdued, however, as some traders remain away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

On the U.S. economic front, MNI Indicators released a report showing Chicago-area business activity continued to contract in the month of December, although the pace of contraction slowed from the previous month.

MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer climbed to 48.9 in December from 46.3, but a reading below 50 still indicates a contraction in regional business activity. Economists had expected the barometer to rise to 48.0.

A separate report released by the National Association of Realtors showed pending home sales in the U.S. rebounded in the month of November.

NAR said its pending home sales index jumped 1.2 percent to 108.5 in November after falling by a revised 1.3 percent in October. Economists had expected pending home sales to surge up by 1.1 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Biotechnology stocks have shown a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 1.4 percent.

Software and semiconductor stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while oil service and gold stocks have shown strong moves to the upside.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composites Index jumped by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably lower over the course of the morning. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.8 basis points at 1.932 percent.