Stocks Turning In Lackluster Performance In Morning Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders reluctant to make any significant moves following last week's volatility, stocks are showing a lack of direction in morning trading on Monday. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq has managed to climb firmly into positive territory, the Dow and the S&P 500 are lingering near the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. The Dow is down 14.67 points or 0.1 percent at 16,476.64, while the Nasdaq is up 23.08 points or 0.6 percent at 4,113.67 and the S&P 500 is up 2.09 points or 0.1 percent at 1,879.95.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders express some uncertainty about the outlook for the markets after the Dow and the S&P 500 reached record highs last Tuesday before pulling back sharply.

A lack of major U.S. economic data is also keeping traders on the sideline following the slew of reports that were released last week.

The economic calendar remains light throughout much of the week, although reports on new and existing home sales and weekly jobless claims are likely to attract some attention on Thursday and Friday.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, looking for indications regarding the outlook for monetary policy.

Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, networking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day. The NYSE Arca Networking Index has risen by 2 percent, reaching its best intraday level in almost a month.

Significant strength has also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. InterMune (ITMN) has helped to lead the sector higher, jumping 12.4 percent following some positive analyst comments.

Airline, internet, and semiconductor stocks are also seeing notable strength, while utilities stocks have come under pressure.

Among individual stocks, a notable drop by shares of AT&T (T) is weighing on the Dow, with the telecom giant down by 1.3 percent after announcing an agreement to acquire DirecTV (DTV) for $48.5 billion in cash and stock.

Campbell Soup (CPB) has also come under pressure after the soup maker lowered its outlook for full-year revenue growth.

On the other hand, shares of Pfizer (PFE) are moving notably higher on the day following news that AstraZeneca (AZN) has rejected the drug giant's latest takeover offer.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dropped by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength, offsetting the pullback seen last Friday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2 basis points at 2.498 percent.