Midday Market Check - After Two Strong Days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Takes a Breather

We head toward the second half of the session with a relatively flat market on our hands. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 (SPX) are sporting mild gains that are being offset by minor weakness in the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) and Russell 2000 (RUT).

A look to the sector action shows most groups are mulling around breakeven. The obvious exceptions are the SPDR Homebuilders (XHB), Regional Bank HOLDRS (RKH), Semiconductor HOLDRS (SMH), and US Oil Fund (USO). Housing stocks are catching a bid as the XHB attempts to bounce back from the new lows hit on Friday. Meanwhile, the drop in the USO doesn't appear to be having much impact on oil-related stocks. The PowerShares Clean Energy ETF (PBW) and Oil Service HOLDRS (OIH) are showing minor losses while the Oil & Gas Index (XOI) and Natural Gas Index (XNG) are positive.

Overall, I would say that the mixed action here is to be expected. We have had two strong days in the market so a pause isn't all-too surprising. However, as noted last night, the S&P 500 (SPX), Nasdaq Composite (COMP) and Russell 2000 (RUT) are pushing into resistance so we do want to watch out for a possible rejection.

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Financial

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