U.S. Stocks Seeing Modest Weakness In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - Mirroring the performance seen in the previous session, stocks have moved mostly lower during trading on Friday after failing to sustain an initial upward move. With the downturn on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 are moving lower for the fifth consecutive session.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Dow is down 87.39 points or 0.3 percent at 34,791.99, the Nasdaq is down 25.70 points or 0.2 percent at 15,222.56 and the S&P 500 is down 10.22 points or 0.2 percent at 4,483.06.

The initial strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels after the Dow and the S&P 500 closed lower for the fourth straight session on Thursday.

The Dow ended Thursday's trading at its lowest closing level in a month, and the major averages are all currently lower for the week.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders continued to express concerns about the economic impact of the delta variant.

Traders may also be wary of making significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

The Fed may provide an update on the plans for its asset purchase program, although recent signs of slowing economic momentum may lead the central bank to push back tapering.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices increased by slightly more than expected in the month of August.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.7 percent in August after jumping by 1.0 percent for two straight months. Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.6 percent.

Excluding prices for food, energy and trade services, core producer prices rose by 0.3 percent in August following a 0.9 percent advance in July. Core prices were expected to rise by 0.4 percent.

Sector News

Tobacco stocks have moved sharply lower on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 3.5 percent. The index continues to give back ground after reaching a nearly three-year closing high on Tuesday.

Considerable weakness also remains visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The pullback comes after the index soared by 2.6 percent on Thursday.

Utilities stocks have also come under pressure over the course of the session, resulting in a 1.3 percent drop by the Dow Jones Utilities Average.

On the other hand, semiconductor stocks have pulled back off their best levels but continue to see notable strength on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.6 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving notably higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.9 basis points at 1.348 percent.