Mid-Day Recap: Markets Seek Direction in Sideways Trading

Markets are moving sideways in what has been a slow day day on Wall Street. After having digested  nonfarm payroll cutbacks over the long weekend, investors returned to the trading floor today looking for new direction.

As of 2pm the S&P 500 leading the way as it trades up 0.65%rnto 1,023, followed by a 0.51% advance in the Nasdaq to 2,029, and arn0.37% climb in the Dow to 9,476.

News that Kraft was proposing to buy out Cadbury for nearly $17 billion in cash and stock sent shares of the UK candy maker soaring, even as the offer was cooly rejected.

The Group of 20 conference over the weekend may have been slim on new developments, but the general sentiment of the meeting was that global co-ordination between policy-makers continues on good footing. Investors may not like the idea of new reforms, but that seems a bit distant compared to the affirmations from officials that monetary and fiscal policy will remain loose in the near- and medium-term.

In the past, policy-makers have responded too late to crises or reversed accommodative measures too early, said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, but the G-20 will learn from history and only tighten policy when a strong foundation has been built.

Along with equities, commodities have also been on the rise, with gold moving past the $1,000 mark for the first time since February) Base metals are also strong, while oil is up nearly $2 to just under $70 per barrel.

At 1pm the Treasury Department auctioned $38 billion 3 year notes. READ MND STORY

Later in the day, markets expect to see that consumer credit contracted by $4 billion in July, following a cutback of $10 billion in June. Though the reduction is quite a bit slower than in June, the variable factor â€