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

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session mixed, stocks are turning in another lackluster performance in morning trading on Friday. The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are once again mixed. While the Nasdaq is up 10.01 points or 0.2 percent at 5,497.94, the Dow is down 18.53 points or 0.1 percent at 19,880.76 and the S&P 500 is down 1.48 points or 0.1 percent at 2,267.52.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes following the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report for December.

While the report showed weaker than expected job growth during the month, it also showed a significant acceleration in the pace of wage growth.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 156,000 jobs in December, while economists had expected an increase of about 175,000 jobs.

The increase in employment in November was upwardly revised to 204,000, but the increase in employment in October was downwardly revised to 135,000, reflecting a net addition of 19,000 jobs.

The report also said the unemployment rate inched up to 4.7 percent in December from 4.6 percent in November, matching economist estimates.

The uptick in the employment rate came after it fell to its lowest level since hitting a matching rate in August of 2007 in the previous month.

Additionally, the Labor Department said the annual rate of growth in average hourly employee earnings accelerated to 2.9 percent from 2.5 percent, reaching the fastest rate of growth since June of 2009.

Rob Carnell, Chief International Economist at ING Commercial Banking, suggested the notably faster rate of wage growth raises the possibility of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in March.

"In short, this report underlines that the U.S. labor market is tight and getting tighter," Carnell said. "The Fed will not want to hang about before tightening again."

The jobs report has largely overshadowed separate reports showing a wider trade deficit and a pullback in factory orders in the month of November.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, although gold stocks are giving back some ground after jumping sharply on Thursday. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index is down by 2.2 percent, pulling back off a nearly two-month closing high.

The pullback by gold stocks comes as the price of gold for February delivery is sliding $4.70 to $1,176.60 an ounce after surging up $16 to $1,181.30 an ounce in the previous session.

Steel and housing stocks have also moved to the downside on the day, while notable strength is visible among biotechnology stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.2 percent.

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

In the bond market, treasuries are pulling back after moving notably higher in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.9 basis points at 2.407 percent.