Stocks Showing A Lack Of Direction In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in early trading on Monday after moving sharply higher last week. The major averages have bounced back and forth across the unchanged line, showing only modest moves.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is up 5.15 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 17,089.64, the Nasdaq is down 5.95 points or 0.1 percent at 4,824.52 and the S&P 500 is down 2.19 points or 0.1 percent at 2,012.70.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders are sticking to the sidelines amid the Columbus Day holiday and a lack of major U.S. economic data.

Traders may also be reluctant to make any significant moves as the earnings season is due to pick up steam in the coming days.

The week will see the release of quarterly results from several financial giants, including JP Morgan (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), and Goldman Sachs (GS).

Intel (INTC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), General Electric (GE), and Netflix (NFLX) are also among the big-name companies due to report their results this week.

Later in the week, trading could also be impacted by reports on retail sales, industrial production, and producer and consumer price inflation.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, although significant weakness has emerged among railroad stocks. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the Dow Jones Railroads Index is down by 2.2 percent.

Energy, computer hardware, and gold stocks have also moved to the downside, while strength is visible among airline and utilities stocks.

Among individual stocks, shares of Infosys (INFY) have fallen sharply after the software services firm reported better than expected second quarter results but lowered its dollar revenue growth guidance. The company also announced the resignation of its CFO Rajiv Bansal.

Social media giant Twitter (TWTR) is also posting a steep loss on the day amid a report from Re/code that the company plans to announce layoffs across multiple departments this week.

On the other hand, shares of EMC Corp. (EMC) are extending their recent upward move on news the data storage company has agreed to be acquired by computer giant Dell for $67 billion.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index surged up by 3.3 percent. The Japanese market was closed for a holiday.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent.

The U.S. bond market is closed on the day due to the Columbus Day holiday and will reopen on Tuesday.