Stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of morning trading on Thursday after showing a lack of direction earlier in the session. The major averages have slid more firmly into negative territory, partly offsetting their recent gains.
The weakness that has emerged on Wall Street comes on the heels of the release of some disappointing U.S. economic data, including reports showing a bigger than expected drop in existing home sales and a further contraction in Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity.
Gold stocks are posting particularly steep losses in late morning trading, moving sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal. With gold for August delivery tumbling $29.50 to $1,586.30 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index is down by 3 percent.
Similarly, a notable decrease by the price of crude oil is contributing to significant weakness among oil service stocks. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 2.7 percent, as crude for August delivery is sliding $1.39 to $80.06 a barrel.
Most of the other major sectors have also come under pressure on the day, with steel, networking, semiconductor, and computer hardware stocks posting notable losses.
The major averages have seen some further downside in recent trading, falling to new lows for the session. The Dow is down 70.65 points or 0.6 percent at 12,753.74, the Nasdaq is down 27.70 points or 0.9 percent at 2,903.38 and the S&P 500 is down 10.82 points or 0.8 percent at 1,344.87.
by RTT Staff Writer
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