WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Friday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.
Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Dow is down 36.97 points or 0.1 percent at 39,097.79, the Nasdaq is down 12.10 points or 0.1 percent at 17,709.49 and the S&P 500 is down 8.51 points or 0.2 percent at 5,464.66.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders take a step back to assess recent activity in the markets, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reach new record intraday highs on Thursday before turning lower.
The narrower Dow, on the other hand, saw further upside over the course of yesterday's trading, ending the day at its best closing level in almost a month.
Traders are also keep an eye on shares of Nvidia (NVDA), as the AI darling has recently been a key driver of the markets.
Nvidia tumbled by 3.5 percent on Tuesday and is down by another 2.1 percent today after briefly surpassing Microsoft (MSFT) as the world's most valuable public company on Tuesday.
On the U.S. economic front, The National Association of Realtors released a report showing existing home sales in the U.S. decreased roughly in line with economist estimates in the month of May.
The report said existing home sales slid 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.11 million in May after tumbling by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.14 million. Economists had expected existing home sales to drop to a rate of 4.10 million.
The continued decline by existing home sales came as the median existing-home price reached a record high $419,300 in May, up 5.8 percent from $396,500 a year ago.
'Home prices reaching new highs are creating a wider divide between those owning properties and those who wish to be first-time buyers,' said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
'The mortgage payment for a typical home today is more than double that of homes purchased before 2020,' he added. 'Still, first-time buyers in the market understand the long-term benefits of owning.'
A separate report released by the Conference Board showed its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell by more than expected in the month of May.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index decreased by 0.5 percent in May following a 0.6 percent decline in April. Economist had expected the index to dip by 0.3 percent.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.
Gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside, however, resulting in a 2.0 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
The sell-off by gold stocks comes amid a sharp pullback by the price of the precious metal, with gold for August delivery tumbling $29.80 to $2,339.20 an ounce.
On the other hand, networking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 1.0 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.7 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly lower over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.7 basis points at 4.271 percent.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
