Major Averages Close Mixed For Second Straight Day

(RTTNews) - With traders looking ahead to the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report, stocks turned in another lackluster performance during trading on Thursday before closing roughly flat.

After ending the previous session notably higher, networking stocks showed a sharp pullback on the day. The NYSE Arca Networking Index tumbled by 1.7 percent after ending Wednesday's trading at its best closing level in well over two years.

Adtran (ADTN) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) turned in two of the networking sector's worst performances, falling by 5.5 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

Gold stocks also came under pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.5 percent. The weakness among gold stocks came despite an increase by the price of the precious metal.

Telecom, electronic storage, and steel stocks also moved to the downside, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index moving lower for the sixth straight session.

On the other hand, biotechnology stocks moved notably higher on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.3 percent. With the gain, the index reached a new record closing high.

Transportation stocks also saw notable strength, resulting in a 1 percent gain by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. United Continental (UAL) helped lead the sector higher after the airline said its per-seat revenue rose as much as 12.5 percent in December.

The major averages ended the day mixed for the second consecutive session. While the S&P 500 inched up 0.64 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 1,838.13, the Dow edged down 17.98 points or 0.1 percent to 16,444.76 and the Nasdaq dipped 9.42 points or 0.3 percent to 4,156.19.