U.S. Stocks Continue To Experience Choppy Trading

(RTTNews) - After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks continue to turn in a lackluster performance in afternoon trading on Tuesday. The major averages have spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Currently, the Dow is down 143.02 points or 0.4 percent at 37,858.79, while the Nasdaq is up 21.89 points or 0.1 percent at 15,382.17 and the S&P 500 is up 3.01 points or 0.1 percent at 4,853.44.

The choppy trading on Wall Street partly reflects a mixed reaction to the latest earnings news from several big-name companies.

The dip by the Dow partly reflects a steep drop by shares of 3M (MMM), with the conglomerate plunging by 11.4 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings but providing disappointing guidance.

Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) has also moved to the downside despite reporting better than expected fourth quarter results.

Meanwhile, shares of Verizon (VZ) have moved sharply higher after the telecom giant reported fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) has also surged after reporting better than expected fiscal second quarter earnings.

Streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) and chipmaker Texas Instruments (TXN) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results after the close of trading.

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several key U.S. economic reports in the coming days.

Sector News

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Airline stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3.7 percent.

United Airlines (UAL) has helped lead the sector higher, spiking by 7.5 percent after reporting fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Notable strength is also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

On the other hand, housing stocks have moved sharply lower, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 4.6 percent.

Shares of D.R. Horton (DHI) have plunged by 9.6 percent after the homebuilder reported fiscal first quarter earnings below analyst estimates.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets saw modest weakness on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the downside following the rebound seen on Monday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.1 basis points at 4.145 percent.