Major Averages Climb Off Lows But Close Firmly In The Red

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved notably lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending the downward move seen in the previous session. Disappointing retail sales data weighed on the markets along with concerns about escalating violence in Iraq.

After helping to lead the markets lower on Wednesday, airline stocks once again saw substantial weakness on the day. The NYSE Arca Airline Index plummeted by 3.1 percent, pulling back further off last Friday's twelve-year closing high.

The continued weakness in the oil-sensitive airline sector was partly due to a jump by the price of crude oil in response to news out of Iraq.

Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Mechel (MTL) and Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) turned in two of the sector's worst performances.

Retail sales also saw considerable weakness on the heels of the disappointing data, dragging the Dow Jones Retail Index down by 1.4 percent. Electronics retailer RadioShack (RSH) helped to lead the sector lower, tumbling by 10.2 percent.

Railroad, defense, and computer hardware stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while gold stocks bucked the downtrend once again amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

The major averages climbed off their lows going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Dow fell 109.69 points or 0.7 percent to 16,734.19, the Nasdaq slid 34.30 points or 0.8 percent to 4,297.63 and the S&P 500 dropped 13.78 points or 0.7 percent to 1,930.11.