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

(RTTNews) - Stocks are turning in another lackluster performance in early trading on Tuesday after ending the previous session roughly flat. The major averages moved to the downside at the start of trading but have climbed well off their lows for the young session since then.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses but remain well off their worst levels. The Dow is down 3.18 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 15,779.92, the Nasdaq is down 4.97 points or 0.1 percent at 3,914.81 and the S&P 500 is down 2.33 points or 0.1 percent at 1,769.56.

The initial weakness on Wall Street was partly due to profit taking, as traders cashed in on some of the recent strength in the markets after the Dow ended yesterday's trading at another new record closing high.

Selling pressure waned not long after the open, however, as traders remain reluctant to make any significant moves amid another quiet day on the U.S. economic front.

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.

While some strength has emerged among networking and electronic storage, weakness is visible in the oil service, steel, and biotech sectors.

Among individual stocks, shares of Hologic (HOLX) have come under pressure after the maker of women's health care products reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings but provided disappointing guidance.

Cloud computing operator Rackspace Hosting (RAX) is also posting a notable loss after reporting weaker than expected third quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, shares of Emulex (ALX) are moving to the upside after the networking equipment maker said its board approved a $200 million share repurchase program.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 2.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are seeing modest weakness on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are moving modestly lower, extending the sharp drop seen last Friday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1 basis point at 2.761 percent.