Stocks Fluctuate As Traders Look Ahead To Fed Minutes - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders taking a breather following the recent upward move by the markets, stocks are turning in a lackluster performance during trading on Wednesday. After moving lower at the open, the major averages have moved back to the upside, but buying interest remains subdued.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 31.15 points or 0.2 percent at 16,950.74, the Nasdaq is up 1.76 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 4,529.28 and the S&P 500 is up 2.22 points or 0.1 percent at 1,983.82.

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.

A lack of major U.S. economic news is also likely keeping traders on the sideways following the recent upward trend, which lifted the tech-heavy Nasdaq to its best levels in over fourteen years.

Among individual stocks, shares of Target (TGT) came under pressure at the start of trading but have shown a substantial turnaround since then. After falling by as much as 1.7 percent, Target is currently up by 1 percent.

The rebound by Target comes even though the troubled retailer reported weaker than expected second quarter earnings and cut its full-year profit guidance.

Target's lower full-year earnings outlook came as the company continues to deal with the effects of last year's massive data breach as well as a money-losing expansion into Canada.

Home improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW) also fell sharply at the open after lowering its forecast for full-year sales growth, but the stock has rebounded since then. Shares of Lowe's are currently up by 0.3 percent.

On the other hand, shares of Hertz (HTZ) remain firmly in the red after an initial sell-off. The pullback came after the rental car company said it expects to be well below the low end of its 2014 guidance due to operational challenges.

Sector News

A majority of the major sector indices have moved to the upside on the day, although most continue to show only modest gains.

While notable strength has emerged among telecom, biotechnology, and airline stocks, buying interest has remained relatively subdued.

On the other hand, tobacco stocks continue to see some weakness on the day, giving back ground after trending higher in recent sessions.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved modestly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed just above the unchanged line, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets gave back some ground following recent strength. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have climbed back near the unchanged line after seeing early weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 2.414 percent.