While selling pressure has waned from earlier in the session, stocks continue to see modest weakness in mid-afternoon trading on Wednesday. The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remain stuck in negative territory.
The weakness on Wall Street is partly due to lingering concerns about the European economy after a report showed an unexpected contraction in private sector activity in the eurozone. Disappointing earnings news from companies like Dell (DELL) has also generated some negative sentiment.
Banking stocks continue to see considerable weakness on the day, resulting in a 1.8 percent loss by the KBW Bank Index. With the loss, the index is pulling back further off the six-month intraday high it set during trading on Tuesday.
Networking, health insurance and housing stocks are also posting notable losses, with Toll Brothers (TOL) turning in one of the housing sector's worst performances after the luxury homebuilder reported an unexpected first quarter loss.
On the other hand, gold stocks have shown a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading day, moving higher along with the price of the precious metal. Oil service and healthcare provider stocks are also seeing significant strength.
The major averages have moved to the upside in recent trading, with the Dow climbing back near the unchanged line. The Dow is down 1.10 points or less than 0.1 percent at 12,964.59, the Nasdaq is down 6.65 points or 0.2 percent at 2,941.92 and the S&P 500 is down 1.43 points or 0.1 percent at 1,360.78.
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