Major Averages Slightly Higher In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Wednesday, extending the choppy trading seen in the previous session. The major averages have spent the day lingering near the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are slightly higher. The Dow is up 6.78 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 22,837.46, the Nasdaq is up 5.78 points or 0.1 percent at 6,593.03 and the S&P 500 is up 0.37 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 2,551.01.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting this afternoon.

The minutes of the Fed's September monetary policy meeting may shed some additional light on the outlook for interest rates.

At the meeting, the Fed left interest rates unchanged as widely expected but signaled another rate hike is likely this year.

The Fed's projections pointed to a quarter basis point rate increase later this year, with the rate hike widely expected to come at the December meeting.

The central bank also revealed that it will begin shrinking its $4.5 trillion balance sheet in October, initially allowing $10 billion in bonds to roll off each month.

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

Gold stocks have shown a notable move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index slumping by 1.1 percent.

The weakness in the gold sector comes amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, as gold for December delivery is sliding $3.60 to $1,290.20 an ounce.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.2, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction ahead of the release of the Fed minutes. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 2.339 percent.