Stocks Close Mixed Following Choppy Trading Day - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following the substantial rally seen to close out the previous week, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session on Monday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before ending the day mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq crept up 2.84 points or 0.1 percent to a new two-month closing high of 5,034.70, the Dow edged down 23.65 points or 0.1 percent to 17,623.05 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.97 points or 0.2 percent to 2,071.18.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will be keeping a close eye on the accompanying statement.

A slew of economic data is also scheduled to be released this week, including reports on durable goods orders, third quarter GDP, and personal income and spending.

The Commerce Department released a report this morning showing that new home sales fell by much more than expected in the month of September.

The report said new home sales tumbled 11.5 percent to an annual rate of 468,000 in September from the revised August rate of 529,000.

Economists had expected new home sales to edge down just 0.5 percent to a rate of 549,000 from the 552,000 originally reported for the previous month.

On the earnings front, Apple (AAPL), Chevron (CVX), DuPont (DD), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE), and Twitter (TWTR) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results later this week.

Sector News

Despite the relatively lackluster performance turned in by the broader markets, natural gas stocks saw substantial weakness. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index tumbled by 3.6 percent to its lowest closing level in almost a month.

The weakness in the natural gas sector came as the price of natural gas for November delivery plunged $0.224 or nearly 10 percent to $2.06 per million BTUs.

Gold stocks also came under pressure even though the price of the precious metal ended the day higher. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plummeted by 3.8 percent.

Considerable weakness was also visible among electronic storage stocks, resulting in a 2.8 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. NetApp (NTAP) and Seagate Technology (STX) posted steep losses.

Oil service, steel, and semiconductor also saw significant weakness on the day, while software and biotechnology stocks moved to the upside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries regained some ground following the pullback seen last Friday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.5 basis points to 2.058 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reports on durable goods orders, home prices, and consumer confidence, although activity may remain subdued as the Fed's two-day meeting gets underway.

On the earnings front, Alibaba (BABA), DuPont (DD), Ford (F), JetBlue (JBLU), Merck, Pfizer, and UPS (UPS) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading on Tuesday.