Stocks Give Back Ground Following Recent Strength - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower in early trading on Thursday, giving back some ground after ending the previous session notably higher. The major averages have all moved to the downside, although selling pressure has remained somewhat subdued.

Currently, the major averages remain in the red, although the Dow is down only 3.78 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 16,908.51. The Nasdaq is down 24.13 points or 0.5 percent at 4,767.02 and the S&P 500 is down 2.88 points or 0.1 percent at 1,992.95.

The early weakness on Wall Street comes as some traders are cashing in on the upward move seen in recent sessions, which lifted the Dow to its best level in over a month on Wednesday.

Uncertainty about the upcoming earnings season may also be weighing on the markets, with Alcoa (AA) set to release its third quarter results after the close of trading.

The release of results from Alcoa is seen as the unofficial start of earning season, as the aluminum giant is typically the first major company to report its results.

Analysts currently expect Alcoa to report earnings of $0.14 per share compared to $0.31 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues are expected to fall to $5.68 billion from $6.24 billion.

Nonetheless, traders seem somewhat reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting this afternoon.

The minutes, due at 2 pm ET, could shed some light on the outlook for interest rates after the Fed's decision to leave rates unchanged following the meeting.

Oil service stocks have shown a notable move to the downside, however, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index falling by 1.6 percent. The weakness in the sector comes despite an increase by the price of crude oil.

Biotechnology and internet stocks are also seeing early weakness, while some strength has emerged among networking stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index surged up by 3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are currently all higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has risen by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are up by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.

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 up by less than a basis point at 2.069 percent.