WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks are seeing modest weakness during trading on Monday, giving back ground after turning in a strong performance last week. The major averages have all moved to the downside, although selling pressure has remained relatively subdued.
Currently, the major averages are off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Dow is down 72.91 points or 0.2 percent at 39,014.47, the Nasdaq is down 40.49 points or 0.3 percent at 16,234.48 and the S&P 500 is down 2.51 points or 0.1 percent at 5,134.57.
The pullback on Wall Street comes as some traders look to cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which lifted the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to new record closing highs last Friday.
Overall trading activity remains light, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data keeps traders on the sidelines ahead of several key events later this week.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony is likely to be in focus, as investors on Wall Street analyze the central bank chief's comments for clues about the outlook for interest rates.
Powell is due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
Later in the week, the spotlight will shift to the Labor Department's report on the employment situation in the month of February.
The report, which is due to be released on Friday, is expected to show employment jumped by 200,000 jobs in February after surging by 353,000 jobs in January.
On Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management is due to release its report on service sector activity in the month of February.
The ISM's services PMI is expected to edge down to 53.0 in February from 53.4 in January, although a reading above 50 would still indicate growth.
Reports on factory orders, private sector employment, weekly jobless claims and the U.S. trade deficit are also due to be released this week along with the Fed's Beige Book.
Sector News
Despite the pullback by the broader markets, gold stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.4 percent.
The rally by gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery climbing $15.70 to $2,111.40 an ounce.
Considerable strength is also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by 2.4 percent jump by the KBW Bank Index. The index has reached its best intraday level in almost a year.
Computer hardware, brokerage and semiconductor stocks are also seeing notable strength, while tobacco stocks have moved to the downside
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving notably higher over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.7 basis points at 4.227 percent.
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