Stocks May Experience Choppy Trading Early On - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the two previous sessions mostly lower, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by just 16 points.

Uncertainty about the outlook for commodities prices may lead to choppy trading on Wall Street following recent weakness.

Traders are likely to keep an eye on the Energy Information Administration's petroleum status report for the week ended December 4th, which could impact crude oil prices.

Last week, the EIA said crude oil stockpiles rose by 1.2 million barrels in the week ended November 27th, with stockpiles near levels not seen for this time of the year in at least the last 80 years.

The Commerce Department is also scheduled to release its report on wholesale inventories in October, although the data does not typically move the markets.

Economists expect wholesale inventories to have risen by 0.2 percent in October following a 0.5 percent increase in September.

Later in the day, the Treasury Department is due to continue this week's series of long-term securities auctions with the sale of $21 billion worth of ten-year notes.

Shares of Wynn Resorts (WYNN) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading on news its CEO Stephen Wynn bought more than 1 million shares of the casino company's stock on the open market.

Online media giant Yahoo (YHOO) could also see early strength after suspending its plan to spin off its stake in Alibaba (BABA).

Meanwhile, shares of Lululemon Athletica (LULU) are likely to come under pressure after the athletic apparel company reported weaker than expected third quarter results and provided disappointing guidance.

Wholesale retailer Costco (COST) may also move to the downside after reporting first quarter results that came in below analyst estimates.

Stocks moved sharply lower at the start of trading on Tuesday and maintained a negative bias throughout much of the trading session. The drop on the day extended the pullback seen on Monday.

While the Dow and the S&P 500 closed firmly in negative territory, the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down just 3.57 points or 0.1 percent to 5,098.24. The Dow fell 162.51 points or 0.9 percent to 17,568.00, and the S&P 500 slid 13.48 points or 0.7 percent to 2,063.59.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.7 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are edging up $0.14 to $37.65 a barrel after slipping $0.14 to $37.51 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,081.70, up $6.40 from the previous session's close of $1,075.30. On Tuesday, gold edged up by $0.10.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 122.33 yen compared to the 122.93 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0962 compared to yesterday's $1.0892.