U.S. Stocks Turning In Lackluster Performance

(RTTNews) - Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Dow is down 91.50 points or 0.2 percent at 49,139.21, the Nasdaq is down 49.96 points or 0.2 percent at 24,786.64 and the S&P 500 is down 4.01 points or 0.1 percent at 7,161.07.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves amid a lack of clarity about the situation in the Middle East after U.S.-Iran peace talks stalled over the weekend.

As talks between the U.S. and Iran enter a new phase of uncertainty, media reports suggested that Iran has proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war while postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage.

Earnings news may move into the spotlight in the coming days, with five of the "Magnificent Seven" companies set to report their quarterly results this week.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision scheduled to be announced on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the central bank's accompanying statement may provide clues about the outlook for rates.

Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.

However, semiconductor stocks have pulled back sharply after last Friday's rally, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 2.2 percent after surging to a record closing high in the previous session.

Significant weakness is also visible among gold stocks amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.7 percent.

Networking stocks have also shown a notable move to the downside, while financial and biotechnology 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 Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction after ending last Friday's trading modestly higher. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.316 percent.