WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have seen considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, with the major averages swinging back and forth across the unchanged line after ending Tuesday's trading firmly in positive territory.
Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is up 77.21 points or 0.2 percent at 52,301.85, the S&P 500 is down 1.37 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 7,507.83 and the Nasdaq is down 72.09 points or 0.3 percent at 25,765.11.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key earnings news.
Tech giants Alphabet (GOOGL), Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.
The companies' results and guidance could have a significant impact on the outlook for the AI trade, which has recently been a key driver of the markets.
'The key question is whether earnings can justify both elevated valuations and the scale of AI-related investment,' said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com. 'Investors will be focused not only on headline revenue and profit, but also on cloud growth, AI monetisation, margins and capital-expenditure guidance.'
She added, 'Strong results could allow technology shares to remain resilient despite higher oil, while weaker guidance could expose the market's dependence on a relatively narrow group of companies.'
Meanwhile, traders are attempting to shrug off an extended by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures spiking by nearly 3 percent to their highest levels in over a month amid concerns about the escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
U.S. Central Command said it successfully completed the 11th consecutive evening of strikes against Iran on Tuesday.
Centcom said U.S. forces targeted Iranian military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The continued strikes come as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. remains open to a diplomatic settlement of the conflict but argued Iran is 'not serious about talks.'
'If they're serious, we're serious. If they're not, then we will do what is necessary to protect our interests and also the interests of our allies,' Rubio said.
Sector News
Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, gold stocks have moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 4.3 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Substantial strength is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.4 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Energy and utilities stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while software stocks have shown a significant move to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the downward move seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.6 basis points at 4.654 percent.
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