U.S. Stocks Giving Back Ground Following Recent Strength

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past several sessions.

Currently, the Nasdaq is down 196.93 points or 1.0 percent at 20,172.80 and the S&P 500 is down 15.94 points or 0.3 percent at 6,189.01.

The narrower Dow has bucked the downtrend, however, with the blue chip index climbing 286.70 points or 0.7 percent to 44,381.47.

The weakness on Wall Street may partly reflect profit taking after the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the previous session at new record closing highs.

Traders also continue to keep an eye on developments in Washington, D.C., where the Senate continues to hold a record "vote-a-rama" on amendments to President Donald Trump's massive tax cuts and spending bill.

On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a modest increase by its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of June.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI crept up to 49.0 in June from 48.5 in May, although a reading below 50 still indicates contraction. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 48.8.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed an unexpected increase by job openings in the U.S. in the month of May.

The Labor Department said job openings climbed to 7.769 million in May from an upwardly revised 7.395 million in April.

Economists had expected job openings to decrease to 7.300 million from the 7.391 million originally reported for the previous month.

Sector News

Networking stocks are giving back ground following recent strength, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index falling by 1.6 percent after ending the previous session at a record closing high.

Considerable weakness is also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

On the other hand, housing stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, resulting in a 2.9 percent surge by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Transportation, pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks are also seeing notable strength, helping to limit the downside for the broader markets.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.4 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the downside following the notably rebound seen on Monday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.5 basis points at 4.261 percent.