Stocks Showing A Lack Of Direction In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks are showing a lack of direction in early trading on Tuesday following the pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, unable to sustain any significant moves.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 3.10 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 19,101.00, the Nasdaq is up 14.00 points or 0.3 percent at 5,382.81 and the S&P 500 is up 13.81 points or 0.3 percent at 5,382.62.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders express continued uncertainty about the highly anticipated OPEC meeting on Wednesday.

Crude oil prices are seeing continued volatility ahead of the meeting, with crude for January delivery tumbling $1.71 to $45.37 a barrel after jumping $1.02 to $47.07 a barrel on Monday.

The sharp pullback by the price of crude oil comes after a report from Reuters said Iran and Iraq are resisting pressure from Saudi Arabia to curtail oil production.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing a bigger than expected upward revision to the pace of GDP growth in the third quarter.

The report said GDP climbed by 3.2 percent in the third quarter compared to the initially estimated 2.9 percent increase. Economists had expected the pace of growth to be upwardly revised to 3.0 percent.

The upwardly revised GDP growth in the third quarter compares to the 1.4 percent increase seen in the second quarter and marks the strongest growth in two years.

A separate report from the Conference Board showed a much bigger than expected improvement in consumer confidence in the month of November.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index surged up to 107.1 in October from an upwardly revised 100.8 in October. Economists had been expecting the index to climb to 101.0.

With the bigger than expected increase, the consumer confidence index reached its highest level since hitting 111.9 in July of 2007.

Steel stocks have come under pressure in early trading, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 2.4 percent. The index is pulling back off the two-year closing high it set in the previous session.

The drop by the price of crude oil is also contributing to notable weakness among energy stocks, while gold stocks are giving back ground following yesterday's rally.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the downside following the rebound seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.6 basis points at 2.336 percent.