Stocks Seeing Modest Weakness In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday, although selling pressure has remained relatively subdued. The modest pullback on the day has offset the uptick shown by the major averages in the previous session.

Currently, the major averages are just off their lows for the session. The Dow is down 49.65 points or 0.3 percent at 18,407.65, the Nasdaq is down 10.20 points or 0.2 percent at 5,249.88 and the S&P 500 is down 5.59 points or 0.3 percent at 2,181.31.

The weakness on Wall Street comes following the release of a report from the National Association of Realtors showing a substantial decrease in existing home sales in the month of July.

NAR said existing home sales slumped 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.39 million in July from 5.57 million in June. Economists had expected sales to dip by 0.9 percent to a rate of 5.52 million.

With the steep monthly decline, existing home sales are down by 1.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting the first year-over-year drop since November of 2015.

However, traders remain reluctant to make significant moves ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the week.

Yellen is due to speak at the Kansas City Fed's monetary policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, and traders are likely to look for clues about the outlook for interest rates in her remarks.

Among individual stocks, shares of La-Z-Boy have shown a notable move to the downside after the furniture manufacturer reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings and a drop in same-store sales.

Navigational technology and wearables maker Garmin (GRMN) is also under pressure after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the company's stock to Sell from Neutral.

On the other hand, shares of OraSure Technologies (OSUR) have moved sharply higher after the company received a $16.6 million government contract to advance its rapid Zika tests.

Sector News

While many of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, substantial weakness is visible among gold stocks. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has slumped by 4.5 percent to its lowest intraday level in almost two months.

The weakness in the gold sector comes amid a notable decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery sliding $15.80 to $1,324.80 an ounce.

Steel stocks have also come under pressure on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 1.8 percent. The drop has pulled the index down to a one-month intraday low.

Oil service stocks have also moved to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil, while some strength has emerged among biotechnology stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stocks markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 1.551 percent.