U.S. Stocks Climb Off Early Lows But Remain Mostly Negative

After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks have regained some ground over the course of morning trading on Monday. The major averages have climbed off their worst levels of the day but remain in negative territory.

Currently, the Dow is down 82.42 points or 0.3 percent at 31,015.55, the Nasdaq is down 81.43 points or 0.6 percent at 13,120.55 and the S&P 500 is down 14.95 points or 0.4 percent at 3,809.73.

Profit taking contributed to initial weakness on Wall Street after the major averages climbed to new record closing highs last Friday.

Traders may look to cash in on recent gains amid concerns the markets have risen too much considering the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Concerns about developments in Washington may also weigh on stocks as Democrats prepare another attempt to remove President Donald Trump from office.

House Democrats are preparing to once again impeach Trump even though the president has less than two weeks left in his term.

After the siege of the U.S. Capitol building by Trump supporters last week, Democrats are concerned about additional incitement by the president in his final days in office.

The markets have recently shrugged off the turmoil in Washington amid optimism about more stimulus under President-elect Joe Biden.

Biden pledged last Friday that we will pursue another stimulus package “in the trillions of dollars” due to the economic impact of the ongoing pandemic.

Gold stocks are turning in some of the market’s worst performances in morning trading, dragging the NYSE Gold Bugs Index down by 1.6 percent.

The weakness among gold stocks comes despite an increase by the price of the precious metal, as gold for February delivery is climbing $11.50 to $1,846.90 an ounce.

Considerable weakness is also visible among airline stocks, resulting in a 1.4 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Commercial real estate, steel and oil service stocks have also moved to the downside on the day, while notable strength has emerged among pharmaceutical stocks.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.1 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi edged down by 0.1 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.9 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the downward trend seen over the past several sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.2 basis points at 1.127 percent.

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