Stocks trade flat despite a sharp fall in oil prices; Fed eyed

Pisani: Energy stocks are the weak link Pisani: Energy stocks are the weak link
4 Hours Ago|03:00
U.S. stocks traded mostly flat on Monday, amid a sharp rise in biotech stocks, as investors digested falling oil prices, low trading volume and looked ahead to a key speech from the top Federal Reserve official.

Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS, said in a note that trading volume is “very light.” “High risk the NYSE volume comes in under 700 million, possibly one of the year’s slowest days.”

The Dow Jones industrial average traded about 13 points lower in afternoon ET, with Apple and Johnson & Johnson contributing the most gains. The benchmark S&P 500 held just 0.1 percent lower, amid a 1 percent drop in energy.

The Nasdaq composite held held 0.1 percent higher, with Apple falling approximately 1 percent, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose more than 1.5 percent.

The three major indexes first traded slightly higher in midmorning ET, but struggled to maintain those slight gains.