Major Averages Close In The Red But Well Off Worst Levels

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure in morning trading on Friday, stocks regained some ground as the day progressed but still closed mostly lower. With the drop, the Dow closed in the red for the seventh straight session, falling to a new six-month low.

Despite the recovery attempt by the broader markets, oil service stocks still ended the session significantly lower. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index slumped by 2.3 percent.

The weakness among oil service stocks came amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for September delivery sliding $0.79 to $43.87 a barrel.

Considerable weakness also remained visible among tobacco stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index. Universal (UVV) led the sector lower after reporting a first quarter net loss.

Trucking stocks also came under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the Dow Jones Trucking Index down by 1.8 percent. With the drop, the index pulled back further off the three-month closing high set on Monday.

Steel, chemical, electronic storage and railroad stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while utilities stocks showed a strong move to the upside as the trading session progressed.

The major averages ended the session in negative territory but well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow fell 46.37 points or 0.3 percent to 17,373.38, the Nasdaq dipped 12.90 points or 0.3 percent to 5,043.54 and the S&P 500 slid 5.99 points or 0.3 percent to 2,077.57.

For the week, the S&P 500 tumbled by 1.2 percent, while the Dow and the Nasdaq plummeted by 1.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.