Major Averages Lingering Near The Unchanged Line In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in early trading on Wednesday after moving sharply higher over the past few sessions. The major averages moved lower at the start of trading but have been lingering near the unchanged line since then.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting this afternoon.

Traders are likely to closely analyze the minutes for clues as to how soon the Fed will begin to consider raising interest rates.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves in early trading, contributing to the lack of direction being shown by broader markets.

While some early weakness is visible among tobacco and oil service stocks, railroad stocks are moving to the upside.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. The Dow is up 2.86 points or less than a tenth of a point at 16,922.45, while the Nasdaq is down 6.27 points or 0.1 percent at 4,521.24 and the S&P 500 is down 0.50 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 1,981.10.