Major Averages Close Firmly Negative But Well Off Worst Levels

(RTTNews) - After falling sharply at the open, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Friday but maintained a negative bias throughout the session. The losses on the day partly offset the strength seen in the previous session.

Networking stocks saw considerable weakness on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 1.8 percent. Juniper Networks (JNPR) and Infinera (INFN) turned in two of the sector's worst performances.

Significant weakness was also visible among oil stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Oil Index. With the drop, the index ended the session at its lowest closing level in well over three months.

Chevron (CVX) helped to lead the oil sector lower, with the industry giant falling by 4.1 after reporting weaker than expected fourth quarter revenues.

Biotechnology, retail, financial, and computer hardware stocks also ended the day notably lower, which strength was visible among housing and utilities stocks.

The major averages closed firmly in negative territory but well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 149.76 points or 0.9 percent to 15,698.86, the Nasdaq fell 19.25 points or 0.5 percent to 4,103.88 and the S&P 500 slid 11.60 points or 0.7 percent to 1,782.59.

With the losses on the day, the major averages all moved lower for the week. The Dow dropped by 1.1 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell by 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.