Major Averages Close Just Off Worst Levels Of The Day

(RTTNews) - After showing a lack of direction for much of the session, stocks came under pressure going into the close of trading on Wednesday to finish the session firmly in the red. With the drop, the Dow and the S&P 500 pulled back further off the two-month closing highs set on Monday.

Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 3.9 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector came as gold for December delivery fell $10.40 to $1,167.10 an ounce.

Significant weakness was also visible among natural gas stocks, which also moved lower along with the associated commodity. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index tumbled 3.4 percent, as natural gas for November delivery slid $0.072 to $2.404 per million BTUs.

Electronic storage, brokerage, airline and internet stocks also saw considerable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages ended the session just off their worst levels of the day. The Dow dipped 48.50 points or 0.3 percent to 17,168.61, the Nasdaq slid 40.85 points or 0.8 percent to 4,840.12 and the S&P 500 fell 11.83 points or 0.6 percent to 2,018.94.