Major Averages Finish Volatile Session Firmly In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before ending the day in the red. With the lower close on the day, the Dow ended the session at its worst closing level in well over six months.

Energy stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, contributing to the lower close by the broader markets. The weakness in the sector came as crude for September delivery tumbled $1.82 to a six-year closing low of $40.80 a barrel.

The sharp pullback by the price of crude oil came after a report from the Energy Information Administration said crude inventories unexpectedly jumped by 2.6 million barrels last week.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index both plummeted by 3 percent.

Steel stocks also showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 2.7 percent. With the drop, the index fell to a six-year closing low.

Considerable weakness was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. The index ended the session at its worst closing level in well over a year.

Biotechnology, chemical, and brokerage stocks also ended the day notably lower, while gold stocks spiked higher amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

The major averages ended the day firmly in negative territory but well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 162.61 points or 0.9 percent to 17,348.73, the Nasdaq fell 40.29 points or 0.8 percent to 5,019.05 and the S&P 500 slid 17.31 points or 0.8 percent to 2,079.61.