Stocks have shown a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Tuesday after moving mostly lower over the course of the previous session. Continued uncertainty about the looming fiscal cliff is contributing to the choppy trading on Wall Street.
The major averages are currently turning in a mixed performance, with the Dow posting a modest gain. While the Dow is up 15.48 points or 0.1 percent at 12,981.08, the Nasdaq is down 9.29 points or 0.3 percent at 2,992.91 and the S&P 500 is down 1.22 points or 0.1 percent at 1,408.42.
The lackluster performance comes as traders continue keep a close eye on developments in Washington, where lawmakers are struggling to reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff.
Without action by Congress, approximately $600 billion in automatic tax increase and government spending cuts are due to go into effect at the end of the year.
Republicans made a 10-year, $2.2 trillion proposal to President Barack Obama on Monday, but the plan was rejected by the White House.
The GOP continues to oppose raising tax rates on wealthier Americans and has proposed raising revenues by closing tax loopholes. Democrats have claimed that the Republican plan would put the burden on the middle class.
Analysts have suggested that lawmakers will likely to continue to wrangle over how to avoid the fiscal cliff until the days leading up to the end of the year deadline.
Among individual stocks, shares of Pep Boys (PBY) have come under pressure after the auto parts retailer reported a third quarter loss compared to a year ago profit. The company also reported weaker than expected sales. Pep Boys is currently posting a 12.9 percent loss on the news.
On the other hand, Big Lots (BIG) has shown a strong upward move after the discount retailer reported a much narrower than expected third quarter loss. Shares of Big Lots have jumped by 9.6 percent.
Sector News
Most of the major sectors continue to show only modest moves, contributing to the lack of direction being shown by the broader markets.
Despite the choppy trading, notable strength is visible among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Earlier in the session, the index reached its best intraday level in almost a month.
While oil service, networking, and steel stocks are also seeing some strength on the day, gold, natural gas, and banking stocks are seeing moderate weakness.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. While Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.3 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets also ended the day mixed. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.4 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both closed just below the unchanged line.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength after ending the previous session in the red. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.3 basis points at 1.605 percent.
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Business News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.