Major Averages Stuck In The Red In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - While selling pressure has remained relatively subdued, stocks continue to see modest weakness in mid-day trading on Tuesday. The pullback on the day has partly offset the upward move that was seen over the course of the previous session.

Airline stocks have come under considerable selling pressure over the course of the trading day, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 1.7 percent. The index has more than offset the 1.3 percent gain posted on Monday.

China Southern Airlines (ZNH) has helped to lead the sector back to the downside, plummeting by 8.8 percent on the day.

Significant weakness also remains visible among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. The index remains on pace to end the session at a two-year closing low.

Steel, semiconductor and gold stocks have also moved notably lower on the day, while housing stocks have moved higher on the heels of upbeat housing starts data.

The major averages currently remain in the red but off their worst levels of the day. The Dow is down 16.80 points or 0.1 percent at 17,528.38, the Nasdaq is down 15.58 points or 0.3 percent at 5,076.12 and the S&P 500 is down 3.97 points or 0.2 percent at 2,098.47.