WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving in opposite directions early in the session, stocks continue to turn in a mixed performance in mid-day trading on Wednesday.
While the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new record intraday high in early trading, the Dow and the S&P 500 are extending the pullback seen in the previous session.
Currently, the major averages remain on opposites sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq is up 38.34 points or 0.4 percent at 9,992.10, the Dow is down 164.54 points or 0.6 percent at 27,107.76 and the S&P 500 is down 10.42 points or 0.3 percent at 3,196.76.
The continued advance by the Nasdaq partly reflects notable gains by big-name tech companies like Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), which are both up by 2.4 percent and 2 percent, respectively, after reaching new record intraday highs.
Overall trading activity is somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement this afternoon.
The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates and policy unchanged, but traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about future policy changes.
Some investors are hoping the Fed will provide more clarity about the unlimited bond purchasing programs announced in March.
The central bank is also due to provide its first economic projections since the coronavirus crisis began, which could impact traders' generally optimistic outlook for a quick economic recovery.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest decrease in consumer prices in the month of May.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index edged down by 0.1 percent in May after slumping by 0.8 percent in April. Economists had expected consumer prices to come in unchanged.
The dip in consumer prices came as lower prices for motor vehicle insurance, energy, and apparel more than offset increases in prices for food and shelter.
The report said core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, also slipped by 0.1 percent in May after falling by 0.4 percent in April. Core prices were also expected to come in unchanged.
Sector News
Oil service stocks have climbed well off their worst levels of the day but continue to see substantial weakness in mid-day trading. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 5.2 percent, pulling back further off Monday's three-month closing high.
The weakness among oil service stocks comes amid a modest decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for July delivery slipping $0.22 to $38.72 a barrel after falling to a low of $37.73 a barrel earlier in the day.
Significant weakness also remains visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent slump by the KBW Bank Index. The index also continues to give back ground after setting a three-month closing high on Monday.
Natural gas, commercial real estate and steel stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, pulling back further off their recent highs.
On the other hand, software stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index up by 1.5 percent. With the gain, the index has reached a new record intraday high.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
In the bond markets, treasuries are extending the upward move seen over the two previous sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 4.8 basis points at 0.781 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX