Stocks Close Nearly Flat Following Lackluster Session - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Monday before ending the trading day roughly flat. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 inched up to new record closing highs.

The major averages all ended the day showing moves of less than a tenth of a percent. The Dow inched up 5.34 points to 21,012.28, the Nasdaq edged up 1.90 points to 6,102.66 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.09 points to 2,399.38.

The choppy trading day came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves after the upward move last Friday lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to record closing highs.

Trading activity remained relatively light, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

The economic calendar for the week starts off relatively quiet, but traders are likely to keep an eye on reports on retail sales and producer and consumer prices due in the coming days.

Traders were also digesting news of pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French presidential election over the weekend.

After winning the election with some 66 percent of the vote, Macron vowed to heal the social divisions exposed by France's acrimonious election campaign.

Macron's resounding defeat of nationalist Marine Le Pen, who had vowed to ditch the euro and hold a referendum on France's EU membership, brought relief to European allies.

Among individual stocks, shares of Tyson Foods (TSN) came under pressure after the beef and poultry producer reported weaker than expected fiscal second quarter results.

Chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) also moved lower after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the company's stock to Neutral from Buy.

On the other hand, shares of Newell Brands (NWL) moved sharply higher after the household products maker reported better than expected first quarter results and raised its full-year guidance.

Sector News

Biotechnology stocks saw considerable weakness on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 2.7 percent. The index continued to give back ground after reaching its best closing level in well over a year last Thursday.

Horizon Pharma (HZNP) posted a particularly steep loss after the drug maker reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings.

Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. With the drop, the index has fallen to a six-month closing low.

Trucking and chemical stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index spiked by 2.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 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 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.9 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries pulled back into negative territory after seeing initial strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.6 basis points at 2.378 percent.

Looking Ahead

A report on wholesale inventories may attraction some attention on Tuesday along with speeches by several Federal Reserve officials.