Major Averages Close Firmly In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher in the previous session, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Tuesday. The pullback came amid a negative reaction to news out of China.

Steel stocks saw substantial weakness on the day amid concerns about the outlook for global demand. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Steel Index plunged by 4.1 percent.

U.S. Steel (X) and Allegheny Technologies (ATI) turned in two of the steel sector's worst performances, tumbling by 8.9 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.

Considerable weakness was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Apple (AAPL) helped lead the sector lower, falling by 5.2 percent.

Brokerage stocks also saw significant weakness on the day, resulting in a 2.2 percent loss by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. With the drop, the index fell to a four-month closing low.

Most of the other major sectors also came under pressure on the day, with semiconductor, networking and chemical stocks seeing notable weakness.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 212.33 points or 1.2 percent to 17,402.84, the Nasdaq plummeted 65.01 points or 1.3 percent to 5,036.79 and the S&P 500 fell 20.11 points or 1 percent to 2,084.07.