Major Averages Close In The Red But Off Worst Levels

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen last Friday, stocks saw some further downside over the course of the trading day on Monday. With the losses on the day, the major averages slid back into negative territory for the New Year.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.8 percent. With the drop, the index ended the session at its lowest closing level in over a month.

Within the airline sector, SkyWest (SKYW), United Continental (UAL), and Republic Airways (RJET) posted notable losses.

Considerable weakness also emerged among tobacco stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index. Alliance One (AOI) helped to lead the sector lower, tumbling by 6.4 percent.

Railroad, health care, and semiconductor stocks also came under pressure on the day, while strength was visible among steel, gold and oil service stocks.

The major averages ended the day in the red but off their lows for the session. The Dow slid 95.08 points or 0.5 percent to 17,729.21, the Nasdaq fell 18.39 points or 0.4 percent to 4,726.01 and the S&P 500 dropped 8.73 points or 0.4 percent to 2,046.74.