Stocks Close Roughly Flat Following Lackluster Trading Day - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Monday before ending the session roughly flat. The lackluster performance on the day came as traders digested news of an agreement to halt Iran's nuclear program.

The major averages ended the day mixed, although they were all nearly unchanged. While the S&P 500 edged down 2.28 points or 0.1 percent to 1,802.48, the Dow inched up 7.77 points or 0.1 percent to 16,072.54 and the Nasdaq crept up 2.92 points or 0.1 percent to 3,994.57.

Early in the day, some positive sentiment was generated by news of an historic agreement regarding Iran's controversial nuclear program.

The U.S. and five other world powers reached an agreement with Iran that calls for the Islamic Republic to limit its nuclear program in exchange for reduced international sanctions.

President Barack Obama called the deal an important first step toward a comprehensive solution, although the agreement has attracted some criticism from Israel and Republican lawmakers.

However, the buying interest was partly offset by the release of a report from the National Association of Realtors showing an unexpected drop in pending home sales.

NAR said its pending home sales index dipped 0.6 percent to 102.1 in October from an upwardly revised 102.7 in September. The modest drop came as a surprise to economists, who had been expecting pending sales to rise by 1.1 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

In corporate news, shares of Wal-Mart (WMT) saw some strength on the day after the retail giant announced that its board of directors elected company veteran Doug McMillon to succeed Mike Duke as president and chief executive officer, effective February 1, 2014

Sector News

While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, significant strength was visible among airline stocks. The NYSE Arca Airline Index surged up by 1.8 percent to reach its best closing level in ten years.

Republic Airways (RJET) and United Continental (UAL) turned in some of the airline sector's best performances, advancing by 5.9 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, oil service stocks fell sharply on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.1 percent. With the loss, the index fell to a one month closing low.

Networking and steel stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index and the NYSE Arca Steel Index both falling by 1.1 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.5 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index ended the day up by 0.3 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved modestly higher, climbing further off their recent lows. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.1 basis points to 2.741 percent.

Looking Ahead

Economic data is likely to attract attention on Tuesday, with traders likely to keep an eye on the release of reports on housing starts, home prices, and consumer confidence.