WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - After ending the previous session mixed, stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq pulling back off yesterday's more than two-month closing high. Currently, the major averages are off their worst levels of the day but stuck in the red. The Dow is down 26.22 points or 0.2% at 17,556.35, the Nasdaq is down 29.64 points or 0.6% at 4,792.02 and the S&P 500 is down 5.01 points or 0.2% at 2,044.79. The weakness that has emerged on Wall Street is partly due to declines by resource stocks, which are moving lower along with commodities prices. A notable decrease by the price of crude oil is weighing on the energy sector, with crude for May delivery sliding USD1.15 to USD40.30 a barrel. The price of crude oil has remained firmly in the red following the release of a report from the Energy Information Administration showing a sharp jump in weekly crude oil inventories. The EIA said crude oil inventories surged up by 9.4 million barrels in the week ended March 18th, reaching historically high levels for this time of year. Economists had expected an increase of about 3.1 million barrels. While the report also said distillate fuel inventories edged up by 0.9 million barrels last week, gasoline inventories slumped by 4.6 million barrels. Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index has tumbled 2.3%, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down 1.5% and the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index is down 1.4%. Substantial weakness is also visible among gold stocks, which are moving sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal. With gold for April delivery plummeting USD30.10 to USD1,218.50 an ounce amid strength in the value of the US dollar, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has plunged by 5.9%. Electronic storage, biotechnology, and networking stocks have also moved to the downside on the day, although selling pressure has been somewhat subdued. On the US economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing a rebound in new home sales in the month of February. The report said new home sales rose 2.0% to an annual rate of 512,000 in February after tumbling 7.0% to a revised rate of 502,000 in January. Economists had expected new home sales to climb 3.2% to a rate of 510,000 from the 494,000 originally reported for the previous month. In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both fell by 0.3%. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the downtrend and rose 0.4%. Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.4%, the UK's FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are down by 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength after turning lower over the course of the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.4 basis points at 1.921%.

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