Major Averages Lingering Near The Unchanged Line

(RTTNews) - Stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in early trading on Thursday after recovering from an initial move to the downside. The major averages have climbed off their lows for the young session and are now lingering near the unchanged line.

The initial weakness on Wall Street was partly due to concerns about the economic impact of new sanctions against Russia.

Citing Russia's continued attempts to destabilize Ukraine, the U.S. imposed a broad-based package of sanctions on entities in the Russian financial services, energy, and arms or related sectors.

A disappointing report on new residential construction in the U.S. also weighed on the markets, with housing starts falling to a nine-month low. However, the early selling pressure was partly offset by the release of a separate report showing a notable acceleration in the pace of growth in Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity.

Most of the major sectors are currently showing only modest moves, contributing to the lack of direction for the broader markets.

Software and gold stocks are seeing some strength, while weakness remains visible among semiconductor and housing stocks.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is up 6.32 points or less than 0.1 percent at 17,144.52, the Nasdaq is down 6.83 points or 0.2 percent at 4,419.14 and the S&P 500 is down 0.68 points or less than 0.1 percent at 1,980.89.