Major Averages Finish Choppy Trading Session In The Red

(RTTNews) - Following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session, stocks continued to experience choppy trading on Tuesday.

Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, although significant weakness was visible among biotechnology stocks. Reflecting the weakness in the biotech sector, the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index tumbled by 3 percent.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Exact Sciences (EXAS), and Novavax (NVAX) turned in some of the biotech sector's worst performances.

Pharmaceutical stocks also saw considerable weakness, dragging the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index down by 2.3 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) helped to lead the sector lower, plunging by 10.4 percent.

On the other hand, gold stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 4.4 percent. The strength in the sector came as gold for December delivery climbed $4.70 to $1,177.50 an ounce.

Oil service, natural gas, and railroad stocks also turned in strong performances, partly offsetting the weakness seen in the aforementioned sectors.

The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before finishing the day in the red. The Dow edged down 13.43 points or 0.1 percent to 17.217.11, the Nasdaq slid 24.50 points or 0.5 percent to 4,880.97 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.89 points or 0.1 percent to 2,030.77.