Dow And S&P 500 Drop To Two-Month Closing Lows

(RTTNews) - Stocks saw significant weakness during trading on Wednesday, more than offsetting the rebound seen in the previous session. A negative reaction to the Federal Reserve's widely anticipated decision to continue scaling back stimulus weighed on the markets.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.2 percent. The index offset the gain posted in the previous session, falling to its lowest intraday level in almost a month.

Within the airline sector, LATAM Airlines (LFL) and SkyWest (SKYW) posted notable losses, falling by 4.9 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.

Significant weakness also emerged among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Retail Index. With the loss, the index ended the session at a three-month closing low.

Tobacco, defense, brokerage, and telecom stocks also came under pressure on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Meanwhile, gold stocks bucked the downtrend by the broader markets, moving higher along with the price of the precious metal. With gold for February delivery climbing $11.40 to $1,262.20 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumped by 2.7 percent.

The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, stuck firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 189.77 points or 1.2 percent to 15,738.79, the Nasdaq dropped 46.53 points or 1.1 percent to 4,051.43 and the S&P 500 slid 18.30 points or 1 percent to 1,774.20.

The weakness on the day extended a recent downward trend by the major averages, with the Dow and the S&P 500 falling to their lowest closing levels in over two months.