By Investors Hub
Major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Wednesday following the pullback seen in the previous session. Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets after yesterday’s weakness. The price of crude oil is likely to remain in focus.
Following the strength seen during trading on Monday, stocks moved notably lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. With the drop on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 pulled back off Monday’s record closing highs.
The major averages ended the session just off their worst levels of the day. The Dow dipped 61.85 points or 0.3 percent to 21,467.14, the Nasdaq slid 50.98 points or 0.8 percent to 6,188.03 and the S&P 500 fell 16.43 points or 0.7 percent to 2,437.03.
The pullback by stocks came amid a sharp drop by the price of crude oil, which fell into bear territory amid concerns about oversupply.
Overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
Energy stocks saw significant weakness amid the steep drop in oil prices but ended the session well off their worst levels of the day.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunged by 2.3 percent, while the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index fell by 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
Considerable weakness also emerged among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 drop by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. The average pulled back off its best closing level in well over three months.
Steel, telecom, and electronic storage stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
