Major Averages Climb Off Worst Levels But Close In The Red

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure in early trading on Wednesday, stocks regained some ground over the course of the session but still closed in the red. The losses on the day partly offset the strength that was seen in the previous session.

While many of the major sectors closed well off their worst levels, substantial weakness remained visible among gold stocks. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index tumbled by 6 percent, giving back ground after closing higher in the three previous sessions.

The pullback by gold stocks came amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery sliding $3.20 to $1,193.90 an ounce.

Significant weakness also remained visible among steel stocks, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index falling by 2.1 percent. With the loss, the index hit its lowest closing level in well over a year.

Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) helped to lead the steel sector lower, plunging by 20 percent after announcing that it is pursuing exit options for its Eastern Canadian iron ore operations.

Telecom, computer hardware, and software stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while considerable strength emerged among natural gas stocks.

The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the Dow edged down only 2.09 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 17,685.73. The Nasdaq slid 26.73 points or 0.6 percent to 4,675.71 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.08 points or 0.2 percent to 2,048.72.