Major Averages Lingering In The Red In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Monday. The downward move on the day extends the pullback seen throughout the first few trading days on 2014.

Extending a pullback, steel stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances in mid-day trading. The NYSE Arca Steel Index has fallen by 1.6 percent, pulling back further off the eleven-month closing high it set last Tuesday.

AK Steel (AKS) has helped to lead the steel sector lower, sliding by 5.8 percent, while Schnitzer Steel (SCHN) and Rio Tinto (RIO) are also posting notable losses.

Housing stocks are also seeing significant weakness on the day, as reflected by the 1.5 percent drop by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. The index continues to pull back off the seven-month closing high set on the last trading day of 2013.

Airline, software, and trucking stocks have also come under pressure, moving lower along with most of the other major sector.

The major averages have climbed off their worst levels of the day but currently remain in the red. The Dow is down 41.16 points or 0.3 percent at 16,428.83, the Nasdaq is down 19.00 points or 0.5 percent at 4,112.91 and the S&P 500 is down 5.38 points or 0.3 percent at 1,825.99.