Stocks Experiencing Choppy Trading Following Yellen's Remarks - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction in early trading on Friday after showing a strong move to the upside over the past several sessions. The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Nasdaq is up 5.59 points or 0.1 percent at 4,537.70, the Dow is down 13.15 points or 0.1 percent at 17,026.34 and the S&P 500 is down 2.07 points or 0.1 percent at 1,990.30.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders digest Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's prepared remarks at the Kansas City Fed's economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Yellen's remarks did not provide any hints about the outlook for interest rates and largely focused on the difficulty in judging the remaining degree of slack in the labor market.

The Fed chief concluded her remarks by acknowledging that the central bank could go either way with regard to interest rates.

While Yellen said an increase in rates could come sooner than expected if progress on inflation and the labor market occur more rapidly than anticipated, she also said the future path of rates could be more accommodative if the economic performance turns out to be disappointing.

Peter Boockvar, managing director at the Lindsey Group, said, "Bottom line, the speech was an academic discussion that was a non-event in terms of gleaning any clues to when future policy moves, past the end of QE, will occur."

Contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves.

While some strength is visible among financial and biotechnology stocks, commercial real estate and energy stocks have moved to the downside.

Among individual stocks, shares of Aeropostale (ARO) have come under pressure in early trading after the teen apparel retailer forecast a wider than expected third quarter loss.

Tax preparation software developer Intuit (INTU) is also seeing early weakness after reporting a wider fourth quarter net loss and providing disappointing guidance.

On the other hand, shares of Gap (GPS) have moved to the upside after the apparel retailer reported second quarter results that beat analyst estimates and raised its full-year earnings guidance.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.5 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has edged up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have seen some volatility in reaction to Yellen's remarks. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 2.416 percent.