WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After failing to sustain an initial move to the upside, stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Friday. The major averages have all moved to the downside, partly offsetting the strong gains posted in the previous session.
Currently, the major averages are just off their lows of the session. The Dow is down 240.00 points or 0.5 percent at 51,538.04, the Nasdaq is down 44.23 points or 0.2 percent at 26,374.07 and the S&P 500 is down 19.29 points or 0.3 percent at 7,618.47.
The pullback on Wall Street comes amid a rebound by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bouncing back near 5 percent.
Yields are moving back to the upside along with the price of crude oil, which has moved modestly higher after ending the previous session well off its worst levels.
The price of crude oil is back well above $100 a barrel after briefly dropping below the key level early in Thursday's trading.
Lingering uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East continues to keep crude oil prices elevated, leading to persistent concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.
The Federal Reserve raised rates by a quarter point earlier this week due to elevated inflation, and officials' projections suggest the central bank is likely to raise rates at least once more this year.
Overall trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, however, as some traders take a step back to assess the outlook for the markets following recent volatility.
On the U.S. economic front, the Fed released a report showing industrial production unexpectedly came in flat in the month of August, with a jump in utilities output offset by a decrease in manufacturing output.
The Fed said industrial production was unchanged in August after rising by an unrevised 0.2 percent in July. Economists had expected industrial production to climb by 0.3 percent.
Sector News
While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, housing stocks are seeing considerable weakness amid the rebound by treasury yields.
Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index has fallen by 1.3 percent to its lowest intraday level in well over a year.
Interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks have also moved to the downside, dragging the Dow Jones Utility Average down by 1.1 percent to a one-year intraday low.
Software and transportation stocks are also seeing some weakness on the day, while semiconductor stocks have moved 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 1.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have pulled back sharply on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 1.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 1.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a notable move back to the downside following the strength seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.0 basis points at 5.0 percent.
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