Stocks Turning In Lackluster Performance In Mid-Day Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After seeing notable strength earlier in the session, stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The choppy trading comes on the heels of the substantial volatility seen in the previous session.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is up 12.53 points or 0.1 percent at 16,349.19, the Nasdaq is down 11.36 points or 0.3 percent at 4,492.87 and the S&P 500 is down 2.74 points or 0.1 percent at 1,909.79.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street comes as traders are keeping a close eye on the price of crude oil, which has shown some wild swings as the day has progressed.

Crude for March delivery is currently sliding $0.40 to $31.88 a barrel after rising as high as $33.60 a barrel earlier in the session.

Traders may also be reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday.

Employment is expected to increase by about 188,000 jobs in January after jumping by 292,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 5.0 percent.

Before the start of today's trading, the Labor Department released a report showing that initial jobless claims rose more than expected in the week ended January 30th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 285,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 277,000. Economist had expected jobless claims to inch up to 280,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that labor productivity fell by more than anticipated in the fourth quarter.

The report said labor productivity dropped by 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter after climbing by 2.1 percent in the third quarter. Economists had expected productivity to decline by 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department also said unit labor costs jumped by 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter following a 1.9 percent increase in the third quarter. Costs had been expected to rise by 4.4 percent.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing that factory orders tumbled by 2.9 percent in December amid a sharp drop in durable goods orders.

Sector News

Despite the lackluster performance being turned in by the broader markets, gold stocks are seeing substantial strength in mid-day trading. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has surged up by 6.5 percent, reaching its best intraday level in over seven months.

The rally by gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery climbing $14.20 to $1,155.50 an ounce.

Considerable strength is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 6.2 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The index reached a one-month intraday high earlier in the session.

Electronic storage, oil service, and transportation stocks are also seeing significant strength on the day, while pharmaceutical, retail, and tobacco stocks have moved to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.5 percent. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged up by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index dropped by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved moderately higher over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.4 basis points at 1.857 percent.