Major Averages Slide Firmly Into The Red In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - With disappointing earnings news generating some selling pressure, stocks have moved mostly lower in early trading on Friday. The major averages have slid firmly into negative territory after ending the previous session nearly flat.

The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflects a negative reaction to the latest batch of earnings news, with shares of Amazon (AMZN) falling sharply after the online retailer reported a wider than expected second quarter loss.

Credit card giant Visa (V) has also come under pressure in early trading after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings but lowering its full-year revenue guidance.

Pandora (P) and Swift Transportation (SWFT) are also moving notably lower after reporting their quarterly results, while shares of Baidu (BIDU) are showing a strong move to the upside.

Semiconductor stocks are seeing considerable weakness in early trading, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 1.6 percent. With the loss, the index has fallen to its lowest intraday level in well over a month.

Maxim Integrated (MXIM) is leading the semiconductor sector lower after reporting weaker than expected fourth quarter results and providing disappointing guidance.

Retail and natural gas stocks have also come under pressure on the day, while significant strength is visible among airline stocks.

While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have climbed off their lows for the young session, the Dow is holding near its worst levels. The Dow is down 117.40 points or 0.7 percent at 16,966.35, the Nasdaq is down 21.29 points or 0.5 percent at 4,450.82 and the S&P 500 is down 7.19 points or 0.4 percent at 1,980.79.