Disappointing Earnings Lead To Early Weakness On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With disappointing earnings news generating some selling pressure, stocks have moved mostly lower in early trading on Friday. The major averages have slid firmly into negative territory after ending the previous session nearly flat.

While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have climbed off their lows for the young session, the Dow is holding near its worst levels. The Dow is down 117.40 points or 0.7 percent at 16,966.35, the Nasdaq is down 21.29 points or 0.5 percent at 4,450.82 and the S&P 500 is down 7.19 points or 0.4 percent at 1,980.79.

The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflects a negative reaction to the latest batch of earnings news, with shares of Amazon (AMZN) falling sharply after the online retailer reported a wider than expected second quarter loss.

Credit card giant Visa (V) has also come under pressure in early trading after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings but lowering its full-year revenue guidance.

Pandora (P) and Swift Transportation (SWFT) are also moving notably lower after reporting their quarterly results, while shares of Baidu (BIDU) are showing a strong move to the upside.

Geopolitical concerns also continue to weigh on the markets, as traders keep a close eye on the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing a bigger than expected rebound in durable goods orders in the month of June.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders increased by 0.7 percent in June following a 1.0 percent decrease in May. Economists had been expecting orders to climb by about 0.5 percent.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by a slightly stronger 0.8 percent in June compared to a 0.1 percent drop in the previous month.

Semiconductor stocks are seeing considerable weakness in early trading, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 1.6 percent. With the loss, the index has fallen to its lowest intraday level in well over a month.

Maxim Integrated (MXIM) is leading the semiconductor sector lower after reporting weaker than expected fourth quarter results and providing disappointing guidance.

Retail and natural gas stocks have also come under pressure on the day, while significant strength is visible among airline stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.1 percent, while India's BSE Sensex dropped by 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has edged down by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are regaining some ground after ending the previous session notably lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.9 basis points at 2.48 percent.