U.S. Stocks Off To A Flat Start

A late rally nearly, Monday, carried stocks back over their break-even marks, turning around a largely negative session that followed disappointing GDP data out of Japan overnight. Volume was extremely light, with the middling results for the day reflective of a lack of conviction among traders in either direction. Shares of gold mining companies rallied with gains in the price of gold while Apple Inc. (AAPL) led technology stocks higher following reports it will unveil the latest iPhone model next month. Utilities were the worst performers, falling about 0.7% as a group.

Japanese growth slowed in Q2, missing expectations, fueling hopes the Bank of Japan could step up its quantitative easing efforts. Japan's gross domestic product rose at an annualized 2.6% pace during the April-to-June period, well under expectations for a 4.6% rise. Asian stocks overnight were helped somewhat by reports the People's Bank of China could soon cut the reserve requirements for small to medium-sized banks.

Summer Doldrums
Trading in the U.S. markets was typical of a late-summer weekday, with investors apparently unwilling to take large position before the Commerce Department releases new data July retail sales. Market experts current are forecasting a 0.3% rise, down slightly from June's 0.4% gain but extending a four-month string of increases.

Other data to be released Tuesday includes the NFIB Small Business Optimistism Index, Business Inventories and import-export prices for July. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart also addresses the Atlanta Kiwanis Club at 12:45 p.m. ET

Commodities were mostly higher. Crude oil for September delivery settled 14 cents higher at $106.11 per barrel. September natural gas gained 8 cents to finish at $3.31 per 1 million BTU. December gold climbed $22.60 to $1,334.60 per ounce while September silver added 93 cents to $21.34 per ounce. September copper lost a penny to settle at $3.30 per pound.

Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End

• Dow Jones Industrial Index down 5.83 (-0.04%) to 15,419.68
• S&P 500 down 1.95 (-0.12%) to 1,689.47
• Nasdaq Composite Index up 9.84 (+0.27%) to 3,669.95

• Hang Seng Index up 2.13%
• Shanghai China Composite up 2.39%
• FTSE 100 down 0.13%

• (+) PTIX, Extends rally ignited by better-than-expected Q2 results last week.
• (+) GALT, FDA Grants 'Fast Track' designation for the company's drug candidate to treat fatty-liver disease.
• (+) DOLE, Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Bank of America (BAC) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) agree to supply a combined $1.15 billion in financing for CEO David Murdoch's buyout of the company.

• (-) VICL, Scraps experimental melanoma therapy after the drug failed to perform significantly better than current chemotherapy treatments.
• (-) INO, Posts Q2 net loss of $0.06 per share, $0.02 wider than analysts were expecting. Revenue climbs 76.1% year over year to $786,000 but also trailS Street estimates by $304,000.
• (-) AMRI, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) terminates Phase III testing of the company's antidepressant drug candidate, citing a pair of Phase IIb studies with patients who have not responded to other drug therapies.