WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have seen considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Friday, with the major averages swinging back and forth across the unchanged line.
Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is down 185.74 points or 0.5 percent at 37,525.28, the Nasdaq is up 13.17 points or 0.1 percent at 14,983.35 and the S&P 500 is up 0.26 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 4,780.50.
The volatility on Wall Street comes as traders digest earnings news from several big-name companies as well as the latest U.S. inflation data.
A steep drop UnitedHealth (UNH) is weighing on the Dow, with the health insurance giant tumbling by 4.3 percent despite reporting fourth quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Financial giants Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Citigroup (C) have also slumped after reporting their quarterly results, while JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has moved to the upside after reporting a record annual profit.
Traders are also reacting to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the month of December.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand slipped by 0.1 percent in December, matching a revised dip in November.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of producer price growth accelerated to 1.0 percent in December from a downwardly revised 0.8 percent in November.
The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to speed up to 1.3 percent from the 0.9 percent originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed consumer prices in the U.S. rose by slightly more than expected in the month of December.
'PPI reports always feel secondary when they're released after the more-important CPI data, but considering the December PPI does not incorporate new supply chain issues from conflicts in the Red Sea, this morning's report feels particularly backward-looking,' said FHN Financial Macro Strategist Will Compernolle.
'As a result, the encouraging aspects of December data on producer prices should be largely dismissed for now,' he added. 'We'll have to wait until January to see how recent supply chain problems pass through to US producer prices.'
Sector News
Airline stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 3.3 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) has led the sector lower, plummeting by 7.8 percent despite reporting fourth quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.
Considerable weakness is also visible among housing and banking stocks, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index and the KBW Bank Index both falling by 1.3 percent.
On the other hand, gold stocks have moved sharply higher, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.3 percent. The strength in the gold sector comes amid a surge by the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved lower on Friday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index extended its recent rally and jumped by 1.5 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.8 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have fluctuated over the course of the session and are currently seeing modest strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.3 basis points at 3.954 percent.
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