WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved to the upside early in the session on Monday but showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line after posting strong gains last Friday.
The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed. While the Dow edged down 49.41 points or 0.1 percent to 40,539.93, the Nasdaq inched up 12.32 points or 0.1 percent to 17,370.20 and the S&P 500 crept up 4.44 points or 0.1 percent to 5,463.54.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week.
While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking to the accompanying statement for additional clues about a possible rate cut in September.
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there is currently an 89.6 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in September and a 10.1 percent chance of a half point rate cut.
Later in the week, the focus is likely to shift to the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report for July.
Earlier in the day, stocks benefitted from optimism ahead of the release of earnings news from several major technology companies.
Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results this week.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.
Airline stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index tumbling by 2.4 percent.
A steep drop by the price of crude oil also weighed on energy stocks, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 1.6 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
Financial and computer hardware stocks also saw some weakness, while networking stocks saw notable strength, 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 higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile, most European stocks moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries saw modest strength as traders looked ahead to the Fed decision later this week. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.2 basis points to 4.178 percent.
Looking Ahead
Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to reports on home prices, consumer confidence and job openings, although activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the Fed announcement on Wednesday.
On the earnings front, Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE), Procter & Gamble (PG) and JetBlue (JBLU) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading on Tuesday.
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