Major Averages Close Moderately Lower After Seeing Early Strength

(RTTNews) - After moving moderately higher in early trading, stocks showed a notable downturn over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs for the session and into negative territory.

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, substantial weakness was visible among gold stocks. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plummeted by 5.4 percent.

The sell-off by gold stocks came amid a sharp drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery plunging $28.10 to $1,234.60 an ounce.

Utilities stocks also came under considerable selling pressure on the day amid concerns about the impact of higher interest rates. The Dow Jones Utilities Average tumbled by 4 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a month.

Commercial real estate, biotechnology, and telecom stocks also moved notably lower, contributing to the pullback by the broader markets.

On the other hand, significant strength remained visible among financial stocks, with the Dow Jones Banks Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index jumping by 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Housing stocks also managed to hold on to the bulk of their early gains, resulting in a 1.2 percent advanced by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

The major averages regained some ground going into the close but remained stuck in the red. The Dow slid 60.59 points or 0.3 percent to 17,824.29, the Nasdaq fell 20.70 points or 0.4 percent to 4,744.40 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.05 points or 0.3 percent to 2,055.47.

Despite the pullback on the day, the major averages all moved sharply higher for the week. The Dow soared by 3.8 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped by 3 percent and the Nasdaq surged up by 2.4 percent.