Stocks Fluctuate But Remain Mostly Negative - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After seeing initial weakness, stocks have fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but largely maintained a negative bias. The choppy trading extends the lackluster performance seen in the previous session.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses on the day. The Dow is down 39.72 points or 0.2 percent at 17,583.33, the Nasdaq is down 7.05 points or 0.1 percent at 5,027.65 and the S&P 500 is down 7.12 points or 0.3 percent at 2,064.06.

Traders continue to appear reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement due Wednesday afternoon.

The Fed is widely expected to hold off on raising interest rates, but traders will be paying close attention to any signals regarding a rate hike in December.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing a continued decrease in durable goods orders in the month of September.

The report said durable goods orders slid by 1.2 percent in September following a revised 3.0 percent decrease in August.

Excluding a continued decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders fell by a more modest 0.4 percent in September after declining by 0.9 percent in August.

A separate report from the Conference Board also showed a sharp pullback in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of October.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 97.6 in October from a downwardly revised 102.6 in September.

On the earnings front, chemical giant DuPont (DD) reported third quarter earnings that came in above analyst estimates but on weaker than expected revenues. CEO Nick Fanandakis said the company is "not pleased" with its results.

Drug giants Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE) also reported better than expected third quarter results and provided upbeat full-year guidance.

Meanwhile, Ford (F) reported third quarter earnings that came in slightly below analyst estimates even thought the auto giant reported better than expected sales.

Sector News

Transportation stocks continue to see considerable weakness in mid-day trading, resulting in a 2.5 percent drop by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. With the loss, the average is pulling back further off two-month closing high it set last Friday.

JetBlue (JBLU) has helped to lead the transportation sector lower, with the discount airline tumbling by 7.6 percent despite reporting better than expected third quarter earnings.

Significant weakness also remains visible among energy stocks, which are moving lower along with the price of crude oil. Crude for December delivery is currently sliding $0.90 to $43.08 a barrel.

Housing, steel, and computer hardware stocks are also under pressure, with Lexmark (LXK) leading the hardware sector lower after reporting a third quarter loss.

On the other hand, biotechnology stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2 percent. Health insurance and drug stocks are also seeing notable strength.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index both inched up by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the upward move seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.3 basis points at 2.025 percent.