Major Averages Lingering Near The Unchanged Line In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - With traders seemingly reluctant to make any significant moves, stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in early trading on Monday. The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders are staying on the sidelines amid a lack of major U.S. economic data on the day.

The economic calendar remains relatively light throughout the week, although traders are likely to keep an eye on reports on retail sales, consumer sentiment and weekly jobless claims.

The Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday may also be keeping some traders away from their desks, as the bond markets and most banks will be closed on the day even though the stock markets will be open for trading.

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.

Gold stocks are seeing considerable weakness, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 2.7 percent. The weakness in the gold sector comes amid a drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery sliding $5.70 to $1,164.10 an ounce.

While significant weakness is also visible among networking stocks, notable strength has emerged among railroad and housing stocks.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Nasdaq is up 3.58 points or 0.1 percent at 4,636.11, the Dow is down 19.78 points or 0.1 percent at 17,554.15 and the S&P 500 is down 0.91 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 2,031.01.