WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Friday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the strong upward move seen over the past few sessions.
Currently, the major averages are turning a mixed performance. While the Nasdaq is up 47.58 points or 0.3 percent at 17,213.62, the S&P 500 is down 3.80 points or 0.1 percent at 5,480.97 and the Dow is down 232.02 points or 0.6 percent at 39,861.38.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders take a step back to digest the recent rally by the markets, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 surge back to their best closing levels since the day President Donald Trump initially announced his 'reciprocal tariff' plan.
Conflicting news on the trade front may also be keeping some traders on the sidelines, as Trump has refuted China's claims that the two countries have not held any trade negotiations.
'They had a meeting this morning,' Trump told reporters on Thursday. 'It doesn't matter who 'they' is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we've been meeting with China.'
Trump's comments come as a report from Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter said China's government is considering suspending its 125 percent tariff on some U.S. imports due to the economic costs of the tit-for-tat trade war on certain industries.
Among individual stocks, shares of Intel (INTC) are plunging by 7.4 percent after the semiconductor giant reported better than expected first quarter results but provided disappointing guidance for the current quarter.
Shares of T-Mobile (TMUS) have also plummeted by 10.8 percent after the telecom company reported first quarter earnings and revenues that exceeded estimates but weaker than expected 'postpaid' phone subscriber additions.
On the other hand, shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) have jumped by 2.4 percent after the company reported first quarter results that exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
Sector News
Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.
Airline stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index tumbling by 2.5 percent.
The steep drop by T-Mobile is also weighing on the telecom sector, as reflected by the 2.1 percent slump by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.
Gold, housing and steel stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while networking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.
Most European stocks have also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is nearly unchanged.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the notable advance seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.9 basis points at 4.276 percent.
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