While selling pressure has waned from earlier in the session, stocks remain mostly lower in mid-afternoon trading on Monday. The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remain stuck in negative territory.
The moderate weakness that remains visible on Wall Street reflects continued concerns about the economic outlook following the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected drop in retail sales in the month of June.
Nonetheless, a relatively upbeat report on New York manufacturing activity has helped to limit the downside for the markets along with a positive reaction to Citigroup's (C) quarterly results.
Networking stocks continue to see significant weakness, however, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 1.6 percent. Earlier in the session, the index hit its worst intraday level in three years.
Considerable weakness also remains visible among trucking stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent loss being posted by the Dow Jones Trucking Index.
Defense, semiconductor, and health increase stocks are also seeing continued weakness, while strength has emerged among biotechnology and oil stocks. Most of the major sectors are showing relatively modest moves on the day.
The major averages currently continue to linger below the unchanged line, posting modest losses. The Dow is down 40.68 points or 0.3 percent at 12,736.41, the Nasdaq is down 5.50 points or 0.2 percent at 2,902.97 and the S&P 500 is down 2.18 points or 0.2 percent at 1,354.60.
by RTT Staff Writer
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