WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After failing to sustain an initial move to the upside, stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Tuesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record intraday highs in early trading but are now lingering near the unchanged line.
Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Nasdaq is down 6.64 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 22,342.11, the S&P 500 is down 8.79 points or 0.1 percent at 6,606.49 and the Dow is down 169.14 points or 0.4 percent at 45,714.31.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves as the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting gets underway.
While the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, traders will look to the accompanying statement as well as officials' latest economic projections for clues about the outlook for rates.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 96.0 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point and a slim 4.0 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
The Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.
Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing retail sales rose by much more than expected in the month of August.
The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.6 percent in August, matching an upwardly revised increase in July.
Economists had expected retail sales to inch up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.5 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.
Gold stocks have shown a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 1.6 percent despite a modest increase by the price of the precious metal.
Notable weakness is also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent loss being posted by the KBW Bank Index.
On the other hand, oil-producer stocks are moving higher along with the price of crude oil, driving the NYSE Arca Oil Index up by 1.7 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index both rose by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by less than a tenth of a percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 1.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.8 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction as traders look ahead to the Fed announcement. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.036 percent.
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