Major Averages Remain Firmly Negative In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks remain mostly negative in mid-day trading on Friday. The losses on the day come after the major averages ended the previous session near the unchanged line.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rate seem to be weighing on the markets following the release of upbeat retail sales data.

The data has added to speculation that the Federal Reserve may begin raising rates sooner than anticipated, with traders looking ahead to next week's monetary policy meeting.

Reflecting the worries about higher rates, commercial real estate stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances on the day. The Morgan Stanley REIT Index has fallen by 2.1 percent to its lowest intraday level in a month.

Health Care REIT (HCN) is leading the sector lower after pricing an underwritten public offering of 15.5 million shares of common stock at $63.75 per share.

Considerable weakness is also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The weakness in the sector comes amid a modest decrease by the price of crude oil.

Housing stocks have also come under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.3 percent. M/I Homes (MHO) and MDC Holdings (MDC) are posting notable losses.

Utilities, gold, and natural gas stocks are also seeing significant weakness on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Currently, the major averages remain firmly in negative territory. The Dow is down 51.45 points or 0.3 percent at 16,997.55, the Nasdaq is down 17.40 points or 0.4 percent at 4,574.41 and the S&P 500 is down 8.44 points or 0.4 percent at 1,989.01.