Major Averages Close Firmly Negative But Off Worst Levels

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved notably lower during trading on Monday, giving back some ground after trending higher over the past several weeks. With the drop on the day, the major averages pulled back further off their recent highs.

Most of the major sectors moved to the downside during the trading session, reflecting broad based weakness on Wall Street.

Airline stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, resulting in a 2.5 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Despite the loss, the index remained stuck in a recent trading range.

Significant weakness was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Juniper Networks (JNPR) led the way lower after rival Cisco (CSCO) struck a partnership with Ericsson (ERIC).

Commercial real estate, trucking, and housing stocks also saw considerable weakness, while strength among railroad, gold, and biotech stocks helped to limit the downside for the markets.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels of the day but still closed in the red. The Dow tumbled 179.85 points or 1 percent to 17,730.48, the Nasdaq slid 51.82 points or 1 percent to 5,095.30 and the S&P 500 fell 20.62 points or 1 percent to 2,078.58.