Stocks Close Modestly Lower Amid Geopolitical Concerns - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - While selling pressure remained relatively subdued, stocks moved modestly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The losses on the day partly offset the strength that was seen in the previous session.

The major averages ended the day in negative territory but well off their lows for the session. The Dow edged down 9.44 points or 0.1 percent to 16,560.54, the Nasdaq fell 12.08 points or 0.3 percent to 4,389.25 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.17 points or 0.2 percent to 1,933.75.

The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected lingering geopolitical concerns amid a focus on developments in Ukraine.

The latest reports have indicated that Russia is sending a convoy of 280 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine.

Officials from the Ukrainian government have suggested that the convoy will not be allowed to cross the border due to concerns that the aid may be used as a pretense for launching a military intervention.

Nonetheless, trading activity remained somewhat subdued amid another quiet day on the U.S. economic front, with traders looking ahead to the release of some key data in the coming days.

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its closely watched retail sales report on Wednesday, while reports on weekly jobless claims, producer prices and industrial production may attract attention later in the week.

Among individual stocks, shares of Nuance Communications (NUAN) came under pressure after the speech recognition software maker provided disappointing guidance.

Cloud-based hosting services provider Rackspace (RAX) also posted a notable loss despite reporting second quarter earnings that came in line with analyst estimates.

On the other hand, shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) moved sharply higher after the biopharmaceutical company released positive data on its liver disease drug.

Molecular diagnostics company Exact Sciences (EXAS) also moved to the upside after the FDA approved its non-invasive colon cancer screening test.

Sector News

A majority of the major sector indices ended the day in the red, although most showed only modest moves to the downside.

However, significant weakness was visible among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) and Western Digital (WDC) posted notable losses.

Natural gas stocks also came under pressure on the day, dragging, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index down by 1.1 percent. The weakness in the sector came despite an increase by the price of natural gas.

Networking, oil, and airline stocks saw more moderate weakness, while gold stocks bucked the downtrend. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 1.9 percent to a five-month closing high.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all ended the day in the red. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved modestly lower after ending the previous session nearly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.2 basis points to 2.442 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Wednesday may be driven by reaction to the retail sales report, but traders are also likely to keep an eye on developments overseas.