Major Averages Close Firmly In The Red

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday, giving back some ground following the recovery seen last week. The markets rebounded after moving lower in early trading but moved back to the downside as the day progressed.

Biotechnology stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 2.8 percent. The pullback by the index came after it rose sharply over the four previous sessions.

Novavax (NVAX), United Therapeutics (UTHR) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) turned in some of the biotech sector's worst performances.

Significant weakness was also visible among commercial real estate stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent loss posted by the Morgan Stanley REIT Index. Aimco (AIV) and Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) posted notable losses.

Health care, gold, and utilities stocks also came under pressure on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Meanwhile, energy stocks bucked the downtrend amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for October delivery jumped $3.98 to $49.20 a barrel, reaching its highest levels in over a month.

The major averages ended the session firmly in negative territory but off their worst levels of the day. The Dow dropped 114.98 points or 0.7 percent to 16,528.03, the Nasdaq slid 51.82 points or 1.1 percent to 4,776.51 and the S&P 500 fell 16.69 points or 0.8 percent to 1,972.18.