Major Averages Turning In Mixed Performance In Afternoon Trading

(RTTNews) - After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks continue to turn in a relatively lackluster performance in afternoon trading on Wednesday. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq has climbed more firmly into positive territory, the Dow and the S&P 500 continue to linger near the unchanged line.

The Nasdaq has reached new highs for the session in recent trading and is currently up 68.76 points or 0.4 percent at 15,755.68. The S&P 500 is also up 4.03 points or 0.1 percent at 4,690.78, while the Dow is down 60.42 points or 0.2 percent at 35,659.01.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders express some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent volatility.

While stocks skyrocketed early this week, the rally came on the heels of the sharp pullback inspired by the detection of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus

With concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant easing, traders are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next week.

Reports suggest the Fed could decide to double the pace of tapering its asset purchase program to $30 billion per month.

A relatively quiet day on the U.S. economic front may also be keeping traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of reports on weekly jobless claims, consumer prices and consumer sentiment in the coming days.

Sector News

Most of the major sectors continue to show only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Airline stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3.8 percent.

Significant strength also remains visible among tobacco stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index.

Oil service stocks are also turning in a strong performance in afternoon trading, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.1 percent.

The strength among oil service stocks comes amid a continued increased by the price of crude oil, with crude for January delivery climbing $0.57 to $72.62 a barrel.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.2 percent.

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

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing further downside after moving notably lower over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.5 basis points at 1.516 percent.