Stocks Fluctuating Amid Interest Rate Uncertainty - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. The choppy trading on the day extends the lackluster performance that was seen last week.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses on the day. The Dow is down 38.93 points or 0.2 percent at 18,513.64, the Nasdaq is down 7.08 points or 0.1 percent at 5,231.30 and the S&P 500 is down 4.24 points or 0.2 percent at 2,179.63.

The lack of direction on Wall Street partly reflects uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the week.

Yellen is due to speak at the Kansas City Fed's monetary policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, and traders are likely to keep a close eye on her remarks for clues about the outlook for rates.

Reports on durable goods orders, second quarter GDP, and new and existing home sales are also likely to attract attention in the coming days.

A sharp pullback by the price of crude oil is weighing on the markets, with crude oil for September delivery slumping $1.50 to $47.02 a barrel.

The price of crude oil has recently benefited from optimism that a meeting of oil-producing nations next month could lead to curtailed production.

Oil service stocks have moved significantly lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.5 percent.

Gold stocks have also come under pressure amid a drop by the price of the precious metal, while substantial strength is visible among biotechnology stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped by 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are rebounding following the pullback seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.6 basis points at 1.542 percent.