WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks continue to turn in lackluster performance in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The major averages have spent most of the day lingering near the unchanged line.
Currently, the Nasdaq is up 1.04 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 16,833.66, while the S&P 500 is down 1.40 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 5,320.01 and the Dow is down 30.68 points or 0.1 percent at 39,842.31.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of quarterly results from AI darling Nvidia (NVDA).
Nvidia is scheduled to release its fiscal first quarter results after the close of today's trading, with analysts expecting the company to report substantial earnings and revenue growth.
Traders are also sticking to the sidelines ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later this afternoon.
The minutes could have an impact on the outlook for interest rates following recent comments from some Fed officials suggesting rates may need to remain higher for longer than anticipated.
While the likelihood rates will be lower by September remains high, the chances have fallen to 72.4 percent from close to 90 percent last week, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Among individual stocks, shares of Target (TGT) have moved sharply lower after the retail giant reported first quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
Telehealth company Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) is also seeing significant weakness after Citi downgraded its rating on the company's stock to Neutral from Buy.
On the other hand, shares of Analog Devices (ADI) have surged after the semiconductor company reported fiscal second quarter results that beat expectations.
E-commerce company Shopify (SHOP) has also jumped after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.
Sector News
Despite the lack of direction being shown by the broader markets, gold stocks have moved sharply lower on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.7 percent.
The sell-off by gold stocks comes amid a notable decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for June delivery slumping $29 to $2,396.90 an ounce.
Oil service stocks are also seeing significant weakness amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, resulting in a 2.5 percent drop by the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index.
A report showing an unexpected decrease in existing home sales is also weighing on housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Brokerage and oil producer stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while biotechnology and semiconductor stocks have shown strong moves to the upside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have bounced back near the unchanged line after seeing initial weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.420 percent.
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