While stocks staged a substantial recovery after moving sharply lower in early trading, they have moved back to the downside in recent trading on Friday. The major averages have slipped back into negative territory, although they remain well off their worst levels of the day.
The initial weakness came as traders reacted negatively to a report showing a slowdown in the pace of economic growth, but selling pressure waned following the release of separate reports showing higher than expected readings on consumer sentiment and Chicago-area business activity.
Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves in late morning trading, although considerable weakness remains visible among semiconductor stocks. Telecom stocks are also posting notable losses.
On the other hand, health insurance and healthcare provider stocks have shown strong moves to the upside over the course of the morning. Strength has also emerged among gold stocks.
The major averages are currently posting modest losses, just below the unchanged line. The Dow is down 17.56 points or 0.2 percent at 10,449.60, the Nasdaq is down 1.72 points or 0.1 percent at 2,249.97 and the S&P 500 is down 1.41 points or 0.1 percent at 1,100.12.
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