After moving sharply lower at the start of trading on Monday, stocks regained some ground over the course of the session but still ended the day firmly in the red. Renewed concerns about the financial situation in Europe weighed on the markets.
While most of the major sectors ended the session well off their worst levels, significant weakness remained visible among healthcare provider stocks. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Provider Index fell by 2.7 percent to its lowest closing level in almost a month.
Kindred Healthcare (KND) and Sunrise Senior Living (SRZ) turned in two of the healthcare provider sector's worst performances, falling by 6 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.
Steel stocks also saw substantial weakness on the day amid concerns about the outlook for global demand. While the NYSE Arca Steel Index closed well off its low for the session, the index still ended the day down by 2.7 percent.
Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The losses by gold stocks came as the price of gold for August delivery slipped $5.40 to $1,577.30 an ounce.
Biotechnology, software, networking, and oil stocks also posted notable losses on the day, moving lower along with most of the major sectors.
The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close of trading, stuck firmly in negative territory. The Dow fell 101.11 points or 0.8 percent to 12,721.46, the Nasdaq slid 35.15 points or 1.2 percent to 2,890.15 and the S&P 500 dropped 12.14 points or 0.9 percent to 1,350.52.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis