Major Averages Turn Mixed After Seeing Initial Upward Move

(RTTNews) - After failing to sustain an initial upward move, stocks have given back some ground over the course of early trading on Monday. The major averages have pulled back well off their highs for the young session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 sliding into negative territory.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected the recent upward momentum for the markets, with the Dow and the S&P 500 adding to recent gains to reach new record highs.

Buying interest waned not long after the open, however, and traders looked to do some profit taking after the Dow and the S&P 500 climbed above key psychological levels at 16,000 and 1,800, respectively.

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 gold stocks have moved to the downside along with the price of the precious metal, some strength has emerged among defense stocks.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance, with the Dow holding on to a modest gain. The Dow is up 36.06 points or 0.2 percent at 15,997.76, while the Nasdaq is down 6.66 points or 0.2 percent at 3,979.31 and the S&P 500 is down 0.75 points or less than 0.1 percent at 1,797.43.