Stocks Move Modestly Lower Amid Geopolitical Concerns - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved modestly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. Selling pressure has remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the markets.

Currently, the major averages are posting moderate losses, near their lows for the session. The Dow is down 45.43 points or 0.3 percent at 16,524.44, the Nasdaq is down 18.95 points or 0.4 percent at 4,382.38 and the S&P 500 is down 6.13 points or 0.3 percent at 1,930.79.

The weakness that has emerged on Wall Street partly reflects lingering geopolitical concerns amid a focus on developments in Ukraine.

The latest reports have indicated that Russia is sending a convoy of 280 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine.

Officials from the Ukrainian government have suggested that the convoy will not be allowed to cross the border due to concerns that the aid may be used as a pretense for launching a military intervention.

Nonetheless, trading activity has remained somewhat subdued amid another quiet day on the U.S. economic front, with traders looking ahead to the release of some key data in the coming days.

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its closely watched retail sales report on Wednesday, while reports on weekly jobless claims, producer prices and industrial production may attract attention later in the week.

Among individual stocks, shares of Nuance Communications (NUAN) have come under pressure after the speech recognition software maker provided disappointing guidance.

Cloud-based hosting services provider Rackspace (RAX) is also posting a notable loss despite reporting second quarter earnings that came in line with analyst estimates.

On the other hand, shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) have moved sharply higher after the biopharmaceutical company released positive data on its liver disease drug.

Molecular diagnostics company Exact Sciences (EXAS) is also turning in a strong performance after the FDA approved its non-invasive colon cancer screening test.

Sector News

A majority of the major sectors have moved to the downside on the day, although most are seeing only modest weakness.

However, significant weakness has emerged among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Western Digital (WDC) and Sandisk (SNDK) are posting notable losses.

Networking, energy, and semiconductor stocks are also seeing some weakness in mid-day trading, while gold stocks are bucking the downtrend amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

With gold for December delivery climbing $6.30 to $1,316.80 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has surged up by 2.3 percent

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all ended the day in the red. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest weakness after ending the previous session nearly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.3 basis points at 2.433 percent.