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(RTTNews) – Major US stock indices moved in opposite directions at the start of Wednesday’s session and continue to show mixed performance in afternoon trading. While the Dow Jones has remained in positive territory, the tech-rich Nasdaq is stuck in the red.
Currently, the Nasdaq is down from its lowest level of the session but remains down 47.18 points or 0.3% to 15,734.55. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones is up 68.18 points or 0.2% to 36,466.39 and the S&P 500 is up 1.21 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,787, 56.
Traders may be reluctant to continue to take significant action following recent market strength, which has taken the S&P 500 to new highs.
The Dow Jones has also climbed a striking distance from its all-time highs, as stocks recover from the selloff seen in reaction to early reports of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
While the Omicron variant has contributed to an increase in the number of new coronavirus cases around the world, traders appear optimistic that the milder symptoms associated with the new strain will not lead to a significant economic downturn.
Traders often engage in what is known as “window dressing” until the end of the year, although activity may still be somewhat subdued before the holidays.
Even though US markets won’t be closed for the New Year’s holidays, traders can still look to get a head start on the festivities.
On the US economic front, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected drop in pending home sales in November.
NAR said its pending home sales index slipped 2.2% to 122.4 in November after peaking 7.5% to 125.2 in October. The drop surprised economists, who expected pending home sales to rise 0.5%.
A pending home sale is a sale in which a contract has been signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to complete a contract sale.
Sector news
Most major sectors continue to show only modest movements in afternoon trading, contributing to the poor performance of the broader markets.
However, airline stocks continue to experience substantial weakness, with the NYSE Arca Airline index plunging 2%.
On the other hand, noticeable strength remains visible among computer hardware stocks, as evidenced by the 1.1% gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Home inventories also trended higher despite disappointing pending home sales data, pushing the Philadelphia housing index up 1%.
Other markets
In overseas trading, Asia-Pacific stock markets posted a mixed performance during Wednesday’s session. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6%, while the Australian S & P / ASX 200 index jumped 1.2%.
The main European markets also ended the day in a mixed bag. While the British FTSE 100 index rose 0.7%, the French CAC 40 index fell 0.3% and the German DAX index fell 0.7%.
On the bond market, Treasury bills fell significantly during the session. As a result, the yield on the ten-year benchmark bond, which moves opposite to its price, is up 6.5 basis points to 1.546%.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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