U.S. Stocks Lack Direction On Final Trading Day Of 2019

(RTTNews) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of morning trading on Tuesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the pullback seen in the previous session.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Dow is down 52.34 points or 0.2 percent at 28,409.80, the Nasdaq is down 3.13 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 8,942.87 and the S&P 500 is down 4.36 points or 0.1 percent at 3,216.93.

Traders seem reluctant to make any significant moves on the final trading day of 2019, content to hang on to the strong gains seen for the year.

The New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday is also keeping some traders away from their desks, contributing to another lackluster session.

The markets have recently benefited from news the U.S. and China have reached an agreement on a phase one trade deal.

President Donald Trump revealed in a post on Twitter this morning that the phase one trade deal will be signed during a White House ceremony on January 15th.

"I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15. The ceremony will take place at the White House. High level representatives of China will be present. At a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two!" Trump tweeted.

Recent reports have indicated Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Beijing's top trade negotiator, will be on hand to sign the agreement.

The major averages have continually crept up to new record highs in recent sessions, although buying has been somewhat subdued as traders wait to see the details of the deal.

Significant tariffs will also remain in place even after the deal is signed, leading to some uncertainty about the actual impact of the agreement.

Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Conference Board showing U.S. consumer confidence dipped from an upwardly revised level in the month of December.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index edged down to 126.5 in December from an upwardly revised 126.8 in November.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to rise to 128.2 from the 125.5 originally reported for the previous month.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, although significant weakness is visible among oil service stocks. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 1.9 percent.

Shares of Core Labs (CLB) have fallen sharply after the provider of laboratory analytics services to the petroleum industry slashed its fourth quarter guidance and lowered its quarterly dividend.

On the other hand, natural gas stocks have shown a notable move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index up by 1.1 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Tuesday, with several markets closed for holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index decreased by 0.5 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled by 1.8 percent.

European stocks also moved to the downside during an abbreviated trading session. The French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent, while the German markets were closed on the day.

In the bond market, treasuries have climbed off their worst levels but continue to see modest weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.5 basis points at 1.910 percent.