WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session on Tuesday and continue to turn in a lackluster performance in afternoon trading. The major averages have spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
After ending the previous session at a record closing high, the Dow is currently down 53.43 points or 0.1 percent at 41,187.09, while the Nasdaq is up 19.64 points or 0.1 percent at 17,745.41 and the S&P 500 is up 6.20 points or 0.1 percent at 5,623.04.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling due to release its fiscal second quarter results after the close of trading on Wednesday.
Shares of Nvidia are currently jumping by 1.6 percent, regaining ground after tumbling by 2.3 percent in the previous session.
Traders are also looking ahead to the release of Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, on Friday.
Economists currently expected the report to show the annual rate of consumer price growth was unchanged at 2.5 percent, while the annual rate of core consumer price is expected to tick up to 2.7 percent in July from 2.6 percent in June.
While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.
During his speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium last Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the 'time has come for policy to adjust' but noted the 'timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.'
On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report this morning unexpectedly showing a modest improvement by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of August.
The report said the Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 103.3 in August from an upwardly revised 101.9 in July.
The increase surprised economists, who had expected the consumer confidence index to edge down to 100.1 from the 100.3 originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.
Telecom stocks continue to see substantial weakness, however, with the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index tumbling by 2.6 percent.
Considerable weakness has also emerged among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
The weakness among oil service stocks comes as the price of crude oil has seen a significant pullback after moving sharply higher over the past few sessions.
Housing and networking stocks have also moved to the downside on the day, while semiconductor stocks are regaining ground after falling sharply on Monday.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.5 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets also turned mixed after seeing early strength. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing further downside after ending the previous session slightly lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.1 basis points at 3.839 percent.
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