After moving sharply lower at the start of trading on Thursday, stocks showed a substantial recovery attempt over the course of the trading day. The rebound came as upbeat housing data helped offset worries about the Federal Reserve.
While most of the major sectors climbed well off their worst levels, significant weakness remained visible among commercial real estate stocks. The Morgan Stanley REIT Index fell by 1.7 percent, pulling back further off Tuesday's five-year high.
Universal Health Realty Income Trust (UHT) and Sun Communities (SUI) turned in two of the real estate sector's worst performances.
Steel stocks also saw continued weakness, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index ending the day down by 1.2 percent. The weakness in the sector came as the disappointing Chinese manufacturing data raised concerns about the outlook for global steel demand.
Brokerage, telecom, and railroad stocks also ended the day mostly in the red, although well off their lows for the session.
Meanwhile, computer hardware stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 2.4 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in a year.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) helped to lead the hardware sector higher, with the PC giant jumping by 17.1 percent after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings and raising its full-year guidance.
Airline, housing, and healthcare provider stocks also moved higher over the course of the session, contributing to the recovery attempt by the broader markets.
The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but still ended the session in the red. The Dow edged down 12.67 points or 0.1 percent to 15,294.50, the Nasdaq slipped 3.88 points or 0.1 percent to 3,459.42 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.84 points or 0.3 percent to 1,650.51.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com