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Stocks Turning In A Lackluster Performance In Early Trading - US Commentary(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Stocks are showing a lack of direction in early trading on Tuesday after moving mostly higher over the course of the previous session. The major averages have bounced back near the unchanged line after moving modestly lower at the open. Currently, the major averages are posting slim gains. The Dow is up 8.29 points or 0.1% at 17,622.03, the Nasdaq is up 3.20 points or 0.1% at 4,654.82 and the S&P 500 is up 1.82 points or 0.1% at 2,040.08. The lackluster performance on Wall Street comes as many traders are staying on the sidelines due to the Veterans Day holiday, which is keeping the bond markets and most banks closed for the day. A lack of major catalysts is also contributing to the choppy trading, as traders seem reluctant to continue pushing stocks higher after the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs for four straight sessions. Traders have largely shrugged off a report from the National Federation of Independent Business showing that its small business optimism index crept back up to 96.1 in October from 95.3 in September. The NFIB said the slight improvement by the index was led by a modest increase in the net % of owners who plan to increase capital spending and more who expect higher sales in the next 3 months. "Those were the two bright spots in an otherwise mixed reading," said Bill Dunkelberg, Chief Economist for the NFIB. Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, contributing to the lack of direction being shown by the broader markets. Gold stocks are seeing considerable strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 2.4%. The index is rebounding after ending Monday's trading down by 6.1%. While some strength is also visible among housing stocks, steel stocks have shown a notable move to the downside on the day. The NYSE Arca Steel Index is down by 1.2% after hitting its lowest intraday level in over a year. Among individual stocks, shares of Rackspace Hosting (RAX) are moving sharply higher after the web hosting company reported better than expected third quarter results. The company also announced a USD500 million stock buyback program. Telecom giant Vodafone (VOD) is also turning in a strong performance after raising its earnings forecast for the full year. On the other hand, shares of Juniper Networks (JNPR) are moving to the downside after the networking equipment announced the resignation of CEO Shaygan Kheradpir. In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. While Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 2.1%, China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2%. The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index has dipped just below the unchanged line, the U.K's FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1% and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4%. Meanwhile, as mentioned above, the US bond markets are closed on the day in honor of the Veterans Day holiday. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX |