Major Averages Finish Choppy Trading Session Nearly Flat

(RTTNews) - After showing a substantial move to the upside in the previous session, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday before ending the session roughly flat.

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 gold sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunged by 5.5 percent.

The weakness among gold stocks came amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, as gold for December delivery slid $15 to $1,068.70 an ounce.

Energy stocks also came under pressure amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil, with crude for December delivery falling $1.07 to $40.67 a barrel.

Significant weakness was also visible among utilities stocks, while biotechnology and retail stocks showed strong moves to the upside.

The major averages ended the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the S&P 500 edged down 2.75 points or 0.1 percent to 2,050.44, the Dow crept up 6.49 points or less than 0.1 percent to 17,489.50 and the Nasdaq inched up 1.40 points or 0.1 percent to 4,986.02.