After moving moderately lower in early trading on Monday, stocks moved back to the upside over the course of the session, ending the day nearly flat. A relatively light day on both the corporate and economic news fronts contributed to the lackluster performance.
Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, although housing stocks came under pressure on the heels of the disappointing earnings news from Lowe's.
Reflecting the weakness in the housing sector, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index fell by 1.3 percent, pulling back off last Friday's nearly four-year closing high.
Meanwhile, airline stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2.9 percent. With the gain, the index reached a one-month closing high.
The strength that emerged among airline stocks came as some major airlines joined in on an airfare increase initiated by Southwest Airlines (LUV) last Friday.
The major averages ended the day almost unchanged, showing moves of less than a tenth of a percent. The Dow dipped 3.56 points to 13,271.64, the Nasdaq edged down 0.38 points to 3,076.21 and the S&P 500 inched down 0.03 points to 1,418.13.
by RTT Staff Writer
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