Choppy Trading Day Results In Mixed Close On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - After failing to sustain an initial upward move, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before ending the day mixed. The choppy trading came as traders digested upbeat GDP data as well as the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

Reflecting the mixed performance by the broader markets, the major sector indices also ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

Trucking stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving Dow Jones Trucking Index up by 2.7 percent. C.H. Robinson (CHRW) helped lead the trucking sector higher after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings.

Significant strength was also visible among internet, networking, and semiconductor stocks, contributing to the advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

On the other hand, utilities stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, resulting in a 1.7 percent drop by the Dow Jones Utilities Average. With the loss, the average fell to its lowest closing level in well over a month.

Gold, natural gas, and housing stocks also came under pressure on the day, offsetting the strength seen in the aforementioned sectors.

The major averages eventually closed on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Dow dipped 31.75 points or 0.2 percent to 16,880.36, the Nasdaq climbed 20.20 points or 0.5 percent to 4,462.90 and the S&P 500 inched up 0.12 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 1,970.07.