DOW STRUGGLES FOR DIRECTION
Wall Street's benchmarks traded tepidly through the morning session, mirroring a relatively uneventful pre-market for Dow futures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened 34 points lower. It was last seen trading at 25,923.31, having gained 40 points, or 0.15%.

The broad S&P 500 Index nudged up 0.1% to 2,778.03, having erased an earlier drop. Six of 11 primary sectors reported gains, led by communication services and consumer stocks. On the opposite side of the spectrum, energy, financials, and industrials stocks provided much of the resistance.

The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.2% to 7,86.92.

A measure of implied volatility known as the CBOE VIX was last spotted making a modest move higher. VIX rose 1.7% to 15.17 on a scale of 1-100 where 20-25 represents the historical median range. The so-called "fear index" fell to more than four-month lows on Friday.