Major Averages End Choppy Trading Day Nearly Unchanged

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Monday before ending the session nearly flat. The choppy trading came on the heels of last week's rally, which lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to record closing highs.

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.

Gold stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 2.7 percent. With the gain, the index bounced off the six-year closing low set in the previous session.

The rebound by gold stocks came despite a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal, as gold for December delivery slid $1.80 to $1,169.80 an ounce.

Airline, networking, and electronic storage stocks also saw some strength on the day, although buying interest was relatively subdued.

On the other hand, energy stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, moving lower along with the price of crude oil. Crude for December delivery tumbled $1.76 to $78.78 a barrel, a two-year low.

Steel stocks also came under pressure on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 1.6 percent. The weakness in the sector partly reflected concerns about the outlook for demand from China.

The major averages eventually finished the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq inched up 8.17 points or 0.2 percent to 4,638.91, the Dow dipped 24.28 points or 0.1 percent to 17,366.24 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,017.81.