Major Averages Close In The Red But Off Worst Levels

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday, extending the pullback seen throughout the first few trading days on 2014. A disappointing reading on service sector activity contributed to the continued weakness.

Extending a recent pullback, steel stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day. The NYSE Arca Steel Index dropped by 1.5 percent, pulling back further off the eleven-month closing high it set last Tuesday.

AK Steel (AKS) helped to lead the steel sector lower, sliding by 3.6 percent, while Schnitzer Steel (SCHN) and Ternium (TX) also posted notable losses.

Considerable weakness was also visible among airline stocks, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index falling by 1.5 percent after ending Friday's trading at its best closing level in over eleven years.

Housing stocks also saw significant weakness on the day, as reflected by the 1.4 percent drop by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. The index continued to pull back off the seven-month closing high set on the last trading day of 2013.

Railroad, software, trucking and retail stocks also came under pressure, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages ended the day in negative territory but off their worst levels of the session. The Dow fell 44.89 points or 0.3 percent to 16,425.10, the Nasdaq dropped 18.23 points or 0.4 percent to 4,113.68 and the S&P 500 slid 4.60 points or 0.3 percent to 1,826.77.