Major Averages Remain Stuck In The Red In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving to the downside early in the session, stocks remain mostly negative in mid-day trading on Tuesday. The S&P 500 is pulling back off yesterday's record closing high, although selling pressure has remained relatively subdued.

Utilities stocks are seeing notable weakness on the day after moving sharply higher over the past several sessions. The Dow Jones Utilities Average is tumbling by 1.4 percent, pulling back off yesterday's record closing high.

AES Corp. (AES), American Water Works (AWK), and Dominion Resources (D) are turning in some of the utilities sector's worst performances in mid-day trading.

Significant weakness is also visible among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. Southwestern Energy (SWN) is leading the sector lower, plunging by 4.5 percent.

Oil service and oil producer stocks are also seeing notable weakness on the day even though the price of crude oil has turned modestly higher.

Meanwhile, gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 5 percent. The strength in the sector comes as gold for February delivery is jumping $22.10 to $1,204 an ounce.

Considerable strength has also emerged among airline stocks, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index climbing by 1.3 percent to a new twelve-year intraday high.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, stuck in the red. The Dow is down 47.26 points or 0.3 percent at 17,990.97, the Nasdaq is down 15.69 points or 0.3 percent at 4,791.22 and the S&P 500 is down 5.89 points or 0.3 percent at 2,084.68.