(RTTNews) – After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks have given back ground over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages have pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Dow slipping into negative territory.
Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is down 93.65 points or 0.2 percent at 52,052.77, the S&P 500 is up 22.09 points or 0.3 percent at 7,479.78 and the Nasdaq is up 145.06 points or 0.6 percent at 25,665.31.
The early strength on Wall Street came as traders looked up to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the notable pullback seen over the two previous sessions.
Semiconductor stocks helped lead the early advance, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index surging by as much as 3.4 percent.
The index has pulled back well off its highs since then but remains up by 2.3 percent after ending last Friday’s trading at its lowest closing level in almost two months.
Airline stocks are also seeing significant strength amid a downturn by the price of crude oil, resulting in a 1 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
After surging above $90 a barrel earlier in the day, brent crude oil futures are currently only modestly higher.
Crude oil prices gave back ground after Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran said Tehran could pursue negotiations based on national interests.
Baghaei’s comments to reporters came after the U.S. completed the ninth consecutive evening of strikes against Iran.
On the other hand, housing stocks have shown a significant move to the downside amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.8 percent.
In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board released a report showing a modest decline by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of June.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index dipped by 0.2 percent in June after inching up by 0.1 percent in May. Economists had expected the index to edge down by 0.1 percent.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged by 2.4 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi plummeted by 4.5 percent.
The major European markets are also mixed on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a notable move to the downside on the day. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.1 basis points at 4.582 percent.
