Major Averages Move To The Downside In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower in early trading on Thursday, giving back some ground following the strong performance seen last year. The major averages have all moved to the downside, with the Dow and the S&P 500 pulling back off record highs.

The early weakness on Wall Street is partly due to profit taking, with traders cashing in on some of the recent strength in the markets.

Concerns about the outlook for the global economy are also weighing on the markets following the release of a report showing that growth in Chinese manufacturing activity slowed in December.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest drop in weekly jobless claims, while the Institute for Supply Management reported a slight slowdown in the pace of manufacturing growth in December.

Tobacco stocks are seeing significant weakness in early trading, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 2 percent. Universal (UVV) and Alliance One (AOI) are posting notable losses.

Computer hardware, steel, and semiconductor stocks have also come under pressure, while gold stocks are bucking the downtrend amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

The major averages have recently climbed off their lows for the young session but remain in the red. The Dow is down 89.51 points or 0.5 percent at 16,487.15, the Nasdaq is down 29.50 points or 0.7 percent at 4,147.09 and the S&P 500 is down 10.72 points or 0.6 percent at 1,837.64.