Major Averages Stuck On Opposite Sides Of Unchanged Line - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After trending higher in recent sessions, stocks continue to turn in a lackluster performance in mid-day trading on Wednesday. The major averages have remained stuck on opposite sides of the unchanged line throughout much of the session.

Currently, the Nasdaq is up 16.26 points or 0.3 percent at 5,291.88, while the Dow is down 71.87 points or 0.4 percent at 18,851.19 and the S&P 500 is down 5.79 points or 0.3 percent at 2,174.60.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders are taking a break after the Dow closed higher for the seventh straight session on Tuesday to reach another new record closing high.

Stocks have recently benefited from optimism about the impact of having Donald Trump in the White House, but lingering uncertainty about the President-elect's policies may lead to some trepidation.

Traders are also digesting a batch of economic data showing that conditions largely held steady ahead of last week's elections.

Before the start of trading, the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand was unchanged in October after rising by 0.3 percent in September. Economists had expected another 0.3 percent increase.

Meanwhile, the report said core producer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, dipped by 0.2 percent in October after edging up by 0.2 percent in September. Core prices had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve said industrial production was unchanged in October, with a steep drop in utilities output offsetting a jump in mining.

The Fed said industrial production came in flat in October after dropping by a revised 0.2 percent in September. Economists had expected production to match the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Additionally, the National Association of Home Builders said homebuilder confidence held steady in November, with most members responding before the elections.

Sector News

Despite the lack of direction being show by the broader markets, gold stocks have moved sharply lower on the day. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has plunged by 2 percent.

The weakness among gold stocks comes despite an increase by the price of the precious metal, as gold for December delivery is rising $2.10 to $1,226.60 an ounce.

Significant weakness is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. With the drop, the index is pulling back further off the nearly two-year closing high it set on Monday.

Banking stocks are also pulling back off their recent highs, dragging the Dow Jones Banks Index down by 1.8 percent. The index ended the previous session at an eight-year closing high.

Within the banking sector, Bank of America (BAC), Capital One (COF), and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) are posting notable losses after being downgraded by Baird.

Utilities, railroad, and housing stocks are also seeing notable weakness in mid-day trading, while strength is visible among semiconductor stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 2.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have turned higher over the course of the session after seeing initial weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.1 basis points at 2.207 percent.