WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks have regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remain in negative territory.
Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Dow is down 31.21 points or 0.1 percent at 44,117.35, the Nasdaq is down 40.63 points or 0.2 percent at 19,994.26 and the S&P 500 is down 7.81 points or 0.1 percent at 6,076.38.
The early pullback on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on the strong performance seen on Wednesday, when the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed above 20,000 for the first time ever.
Some negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of November.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.4 percent in November after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in October.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.2 percent, matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth accelerated to 3.0 percent in November from an upwardly revised 2.6 percent in October.
The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to rise to 2.6 percent from the 2.4 percent originally reported for the previous month.
Selling pressure has waned over the course of the session, however, as economists suggested the data is not likely to stop the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates by another quarter point next week.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicates a 98.1 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by 25 basis points at its December meeting.
Sector News
Gold stocks have pulled back sharply after surging on Wednesday, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.7 percent. The index ended the previous session at its best closing level in over a month.
The sell-off by gold stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for February delivery plummeting $55.40 to $2,701.30 an ounce.
Significant weakness is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Energy stocks are also seeing considerable weakness amid a notable decrease by the price of crude oil, while networking and commercial real estate stocks are seeing some strength on the day.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.9 percent.
The major European markets are seeing modest strength after the European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter point. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are all up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the pullback seen over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.3 basis points at 4.294 percent.
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