Major Averages Close Mixed Following Lackluster Session - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday following the strength seen last week. The major averages spent much of the day lingering near the unchanged line before eventually closing mixed.

While the Dow inched up 22.79 points or 0.1 percent to 23,580.78, the Nasdaq dipped 10.64 points or 0.2 percent to 6,878.52 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.00 point or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,601.42.

The lackluster performance on the Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair nominee Jerome Powell and current Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

The Senate Banking Committee is due to hold a confirmation hearing for Powell on Tuesday, while Yellen is scheduled to testify on the economic outlook before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday.

Economic data may also attract attention this week, as traders are likely to keep a close eye on reports on consumer confidence, pending home sales, personal income and spending, and manufacturing activity.

The Commerce Department released a report this morning showing new home sales unexpectedly jumped to a ten-year high in October.

The report showed new home sales surged up by 6.2 percent to an annual rate of 685,000 in October from the revised September rate of 645,000.

The notable increase surprised economists, who had expected new home sales to drop to a rate of 625,000 from the 667,000 originally reported for the previous month.

With the unexpected increase, new home sales reached their highest annual rate since hitting 727,000 in October of 2007.

Sector News

Energy stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, moving lower along with the price of crude oil. Crude oil for January delivery slumped $0.84 to $58.11 a barrel after climbing $0.93 to $58.95 a barrel last Friday.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index tumbled by 1.8 percent and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index fell by 1.4 percent.

Considerable weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The drop by the index came after it ended the previous session at a record closing high.

Computer hardware and biotechnology stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while gold stocks moved higher along with the price of the precious metal.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.6 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction for much of the session before closing modestly higher. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.2 basis points to 2.328 percent.

Looking Ahead

Powell's confirmation hearing is likely to attract attention on Tuesday along with reports on home prices and consumer confidence.