Stocks Continue To Show A Lack Of Direction In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks continue to show a lack of direction in mid-day trading on Monday after turning in a lackluster performance throughout the previous session. Traders largely remain on the sidelines amid another holiday-interrupted week.

The major averages are currently turning in a mixed performance, although they are all nearly flat. While the Dow is up 6.22 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 16,484.63, the Nasdaq is down 3.02 points or 0.1 percent at 4,153.58 and the S&P 500 is down 0.88 points or 0.1 percent at 1,840.52.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as many traders remain away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday last Wednesday and ahead of the upcoming New Year's Day holiday.

While window dressing sometimes contributes to upward momentum for the markets in the final days of the year, investors seem reluctant to continue buying stocks following the recent strength.

Traders have largely shrugged off a report from the National Association of Realtors showing a much smaller than expected increase in pending home sales in the month of November.

NAR said its pending home sales index inched up 0.2 percent to 101.7 in November from a downwardly revised 101.5 in October. Economists had been expecting the index to jump by about 1.5 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.

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

Among individual stocks, shares of Crocs (CROX) are moving sharply higher after the footwear maker said it is receiving a $200 million investment from Blackstone (BX). Crocs also said its president and CEO intends to retire.

Cooper Tire (CTB) has shown a notable turnaround on the day after initially coming under pressure on the heels of news the tire company terminated its proposed $2.2 billion sale to India's Apollo Tyres.

On the other hand, shares of Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) have pulled back near the unchanged line even though the egg producer reported second quarter earnings that rose sharply year-over-year and came in above analyst estimates.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index rose by 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries are regaining some ground after coming under pressure last week. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.2 basis points at 2.974 percent.