Shawshank, VA 9/26/2011 (PennyPayDay) – After moving higher at the open, stocks have turned in a lackluster performance over the course of early trading on Monday. The major averages have turned mixed on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq sliding firmly into negative territory.While the Nasdaq is currently down 13.81 points or 0.6 percent at 2,469.42, the Dow is up 55.78 points or 0.5 percent at 10,827.26 and the S&P 500 is up 1.49 points or 0.1 percent at 1,137.92.
The initial strength on Wall Street was partly due to easing concerns about the financial situation in Europe, with EU monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn saying that talks are under way to expand the European Financial Stability Facility bailout fund.
The International Monetary Fund also said it stands ready to "strongly support" the efforts of its European colleagues to resolve the euro-area crisis.
However, lingering concerns about the global economic outlook helped to limit the upside for the markets, and some traders looked to cash in on the early gains.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department recently released a report showing a drop in new home sales in the month of August.
The report showed that new home sales fell by 2.3 percent to an annual rate of 295,000 in August from the revised July rate of 302,000. Economists had expected new home sales to drop to 293,000 from the 298,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Benefiting from the easing concerns about Europe, banking stocks are seeing considerable strength in early trading. The KBW Bank Index has risen by 1.4 percent, climbing further off the two-year closing low it set last Thursday.
On the other hand, resource stocks have come under pressure on the day, with gold stocks leading the way lower amid a continued decrease by the price of the precious metal. Semiconductor and biotech stocks are also seeing early weakness, contributing to the pullback by the Nasdaq.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region showed notable moves to the downside during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 2.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 1.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are seeing strength on the day but have pulled back well off their best levels of the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 1.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are up by 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing notable weakness, pulling back further off their recent highs. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.2 basis points at 1.85 percent.
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