Major Averages Close Slightly Lower Following Choppy Trading Day

(RTTNews) - With traders reluctant to make any significant moves going into the long weekend, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing roughly flat.

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.

Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 2.1 percent. The gain by the index came after it ended the previous session at its worst closing level in nearly twelve years.

The rebound by gold stocks came despite a decrease by the price of the precious metal, as gold for August delivery slid $5.80 to $1,163.50 an ounce.

Utilities stocks also turned in a strong performance, driving the Dow Jones Utilities Average up by 1.4 percent. With the gain, the average climbed further off the nine-month closing low set on Tuesday.

On the other hand, banking stocks saw some weakness on the day, giving back ground after helping to lead the rebound seen over the two previous sessions.

The major averages eventually finished the session slightly lower. The Dow slipped 27.80 points or 0.2 percent to 17,730.11, the Nasdaq dipped 3.91 points or 0.1 percent to 5,009.21 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.64 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,076.78.

For the holiday-shortened week, the Nasdaq tumbled by 1.4 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both slumped by 1.2 percent.