U.S. Stocks Giving Back Ground Following Recent Strength

Stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Tuesday, giving back ground following the rally seen last week. The S&P 500 reached a new record intraday high in early trading but has slid into negative territory since then.

Currently, the major averages are all in the red, although the Nasdaq is down just 18.00 points or 0.1 percent at 14,621.33. The Dow is down 387.43 points or 1.1 percent at 34,398.92 and the S&P 500 is down 28.79 points or 0.7 percent at 4,323.55.

The weakness on Wall Street may be partly due to profit taking after the advance seen last Friday lifted all three major averages to new record closing highs.

Optimism about the economic outlook has helped support the markets, although traders remain somewhat concerned about the outlook for monetary policy.

Further insight into the Federal Reserve’s plans may be provided later this week when the central bank releases the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated by a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing its reading on service sector activity pulled back off a record high in June.

The ISM said its services PMI slid to 60.1 in June from 64.0 in May, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 63.5.

“The rate of expansion in the services sector remains strong, despite the slight pullback in the rate of growth from the previous month’s all-time high,” said Anthony Nieves, Chair of the ISM Services Business Survey Committee.

He added, “Challenges with materials shortages, inflation, logistics and employment resources continue to be an impediment to business conditions.”

Oil service stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 4.9 percent.

The sell-off by oil service stocks comes as the price of crude oil for August delivery has slumped $0.94 to $74.22 a barrel after reaching a six-year high.

Notable weakness is visible throughout the energy sector, with the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index tumbling by 2.9 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Significant weakness is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.2 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

Banking, airline and chemical stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while retail and software stocks are seeing some strength on the day.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.2 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index has fallen by 0.8 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.9 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply higher over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 7.8 basis points at 1.353 percent.