With many traders staying on the sidelines, stocks have shown a lack of direction throughout morning trading on Monday. The major averages have shown only modest moves after showing a notable turnaround over the course of the previous session.
A lack of major U.S. economic data is contributing to the choppy trading on Wall Street, with traders looking ahead to the Kansas City Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium. Fed Chairman Bernanke is among those that are expected to speak at the event on Friday.
Ahead of Bernanke's speech, reports on consumer confidence, pending home sales, and personal income and spending may attract some attention.
While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, steel stocks are seeing some weakness amid concerns about the outlook for demand. Reflecting the weakness in the steel sector, the NYSE Arca Steel Index has fallen by 1.1 percent.
Housing, trucking, and chemical stocks are also seeing moderate weakness in late morning trading, while strength is visible among software stocks.
The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, stuck on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq is up 2.08 points or 0.1 percent at 3,071.87, the Dow is down 26.67 points or 0.2 percent at 13,131.30 and the S&P 500 is down 1.01 points or 0.1 percent at 1,410.12.
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