Stocks Seeing Modest Weakness Following Yellen Comments - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks are seeing modest weakness in mid-day trading on Wednesday after showing a lack of direction earlier in the session. Selling pressure has remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the markets.

Currently, the major averages remain just below the unchanged line. The Dow is down 24.58 points or 0.1 percent at 18,203.72, the Nasdaq is down 12.90 points or 0.2 percent at 5,292.81 and the S&P 500 is down 4.89 points or 0.2 percent at 2,155.04.

The modest weakness that has emerged on Wall Street comes as traders digest remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen told lawmakers there is no "fixed timetable" for raising interest rates but noted that a majority of the members of the Federal Open Market Committee think a rate hike is likely this year.

Yellen also cautioned that continued job creation at the current pace could cause the economy to overheat, forcing the Fed to raise rates faster than currently anticipated.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is also due to speak this afternoon, while Cleveland's Loretta Mester and Kansas City's Esther George, who both voted to raise interest rates at the last meeting, are scheduled to deliver remarks after the close of trading.

Traders are likely to keep an eye on the remarks for any hints regarding the likelihood of a rate hike before the end of the year.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing that durable goods orders came in flat in the month of August.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in August after jumping by a revised 3.6 percent in July.

Economists had expected orders to pull back by about 1.4 percent compared to the 4.4 percent spike that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders fell by 0.4 percent in August after surging up by 1.1 percent in July. The drop matched economist estimates.

Sector News

While many of the major sectors continue to show only modest moves on the day, biotechnology stocks have shown a significant move to the downside. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index has slumped by 1.6 percent.

Juno Therapeutics (JUNO), Novavax (NVAX), and Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) are turning in some of the biotech sector's worst performances.

Considerable weakness has also emerged among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector comes as gold for December delivery is sliding $7.40 to $1,323 an ounce.

On the other hand, steel stocks have moved notably higher on the day, driving the NYSE Arc Steel Index up by 1.5 percent. The index reached a three-week high earlier in the session.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved back to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 1.548 percent.