U.S. Stocks Turning In Lackluster Performance Following Yesterday's Rally

(RTTNews) - Following the strong upward move seen over the course of the previous session, stocks are turning in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Tuesday. While the Dow has shown a notable advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are showing more modest moves.

Currently, the major averages are on opposite sides of the unchanged line. The Nasdaq is down 35.03 points or 0.2 percent at 22,836.98, but the S&P 500 is up 19.66 points or 0.3 percent at 6,724.78 and the Dow is up 359.56 points or 0.8 percent at 46,807.83.

The advance by the Dow comes amid strong gains by Merck (MRK), Nike (NKE) and Home Depot (HD), while a slump by shares of Nvidia (NVDA) is weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Nvidia is down by 4.0 percent after hitting a two-month intraday low early in the session. The chipmaker came under pressure in early trading after a report from The Information said Meta Platforms (META) is considering spending billions of dollars on Alphabet's (GOOGL) AI chips.

The lackluster performance by the broader markets comes as traders take a step back to assess the near-term outlook for stocks following the substantial volatility seen over the past several sessions.

The rally on Monday extended a notable rebound seen during last Friday's trading, helping the major averages largely offset the steep drop seen for much of last week.

Traders are also digesting the release of long-delayed U.S. economic data, including reports on retail sales and producer prices in the month of September.

The Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales increased by less than expected in September, while a separate Labor Department report showed producer prices increased in line with estimates during the month.

Meanwhile, payroll processor ADP released a report showing U.S. private sector employers shed an average of 13,500 jobs per week in the four weeks ending November 8th compared to an average loss of 2,500 jobs in the previous four-week period.

The Conference Board also released a report showing a substantial deterioration by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of November.

Sector News

Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, airline stocks have moved sharply higher on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.4 percent.

Substantial strength is also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 3.3 percent surge by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

The rally by housing stocks comes after the National Association of Realtors released a report showing an unexpected jump by pending home sales in the month of October.

Pharmaceutical, steel and biotechnology stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while semiconductor stocks have shown a notable move to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.0 basis points at 4.008 percent.