U.S. Stocks Turning In Lackluster Performance Following Last Week's Strength

(RTTNews) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of morning trading on Monday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the strong upward move seen last week.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 69.18 points or 0.2 percent at 39,200.71, the Nasdaq is up 30.73 points or 0.2 percent at 16,027.55 and the S&P 500 is up 1.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 5,090.33.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem be reluctant to make significant moves as they digest last week's gains, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has also reached its best levels in well over two years but has encountered some resistance around its November 2021 highs.

Traders may also be sticking to sidelines ahead of the release of some key economic data later this week, including a closely watched inflation reading.

The Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending, which is scheduled to be released on Thursday, includes a reading on consumer price inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

The inflation data could have a notable impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Fed officials have said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting rates.

Reports on durable goods orders, consumer confidence, weekly jobless claims and manufacturing activity are also likely to attract attention in the coming days.

The Commerce Department released a report this morning showing a continued rebound in new home sales in the U.S. in the month of January, although the increase fell short of economist estimates.

The report said new home sales climbed 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 661,000 in January after surging by 7.3 percent to a revised rate of 651,000 in December.

With the increase, new home sales continued to regain ground after hitting their lowest level in a year in November.

However, economists had expected new home sales to jump by 2.4 percent to a rate of 680,000 from the 664,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Sector News

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Gold stocks have shown a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index slumping by 1.9 percent.

The weakness among gold stocks comes amid a pullback by the price of the precious metal, as gold for April delivery is falling $13.60 to $2,035.80 an ounce.

Considerable weakness is also visible among utilities stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss being posted by the Dow Jones Utility Average.

On the other hand, semiconductor stocks have shown a strong move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.1 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 0.9 percent.

The major European markets are also mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving notably higher last Friday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.2 basis points at 4.282 percent.