Stocks are seeing modest weakness in early trading on Wednesday after moving notably higher over the past several sessions. The major averages have all moved to the downside, although selling pressure has remained relatively subdued.
Currently, the major averages are all in negative territory, although the Nasdaq is underperforming its counterparts. While the Nasdaq is down 22.31 points or 0.5 percent at 4,139.14, the Dow is down 12.56 points or 0.1 percent at 16,501.81 and the S&P 500 is down 2.13 points or 0.1 percent at 1,877.42.
The early weakness on Wall Street is partly due to profit taking following the recent upward move, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 giving back ground after closing higher for six consecutive sessions.
Traders are also digesting the latest batch of earnings news, including quarterly results from big-name companies such as AT&T (T), Procter & Gamble (PG), and Dow Chemical (DOW).
Shares of AT&T have fallen by 3.3 percent even though the telecom giant reported better than expected first quarter results. Traders seem disappointing that the company raised its full-year revenue growth target but left its earnings guidance unchanged.
Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble has also moved to the downside after reporting an unexpected drop in fiscal third quarter net sales and lowering its forecast for full-year net sales growth.
On the other hand, shares of Dow Chemical have shown a strong upward move after the chemical giant reported better than expected first quarter earnings.
Traders largely seem to have shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department that unexpectedly showed a steep drop in new home sale in March.
The report said new home sales plunged 14.5 percent to an annual rate of 384,000 in March from the revised February rate of 449,000.
The steep drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected new home sales to climb to a rate of 455,000 from the 440,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Electronic storage stocks have shown a notable move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index down by 1.9 percent. EMC Corp. (EMC) has helped to lead the sector lower after lowering its full-year earnings guidance.
Significant weakness has also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Industry giant Amgen (AMGN) is posting a steep loss after reporting weaker than expected first quarter results.
Telecom, housing, and software stocks have also come under pressure on the day, while airline stocks are moving notably higher following upbeat earnings news from Delta (DAL).
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikki 225 Index surged up by 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are down by 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries are moving moderately higher after closing nearly flat for two straight days. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.5 basis points at 2.691 percent.
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