Nasdaq Hits Two-Month Low As Stocks Extend Recent Pullback

(RTTNews) - Extending the pullback seen over the two previous sessions, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Monday. With the losses on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session at its worst closing level in two months.

While most of the major sectors moved to the downside, housing stocks posted particularly steep losses on the day. Reflecting the weakness among housing stocks, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index tumbled by 2.6 percent.

KB Home (KBH), Vulcan Materials (VMC), and Masco (MAS) turned in some of the housing sector's worst performances.

Oil service stocks also saw significant weakness, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.2 percent. The weakness in the oil service sector came as crude for May delivery slid $0.70 to $100.44 a barrel.

Considerable weakness was also visible among brokerage stocks, which added to the steep losses posted in the two previous sessions. The NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index fell by 2.1 percent two a two-month closing low.

Electronic storage, chemical, and networking stocks also saw notable weakness, reflecting the broad based selling pressure on Wall Street.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow slumped 166.84 points or 1 percent to 16,245.87, the Nasdaq tumbled 47.97 points or 1.2 percent to 4,079.75 and the S&P 500 dropped 20.05 points or 1.1 percent to 1,845.04.