Major Averages Pull Back Firmly Into Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks have seen considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Wednesday as traders digest a mixed batch of economic data. Selling pressure has intensified in recent trading, dragging the major averages firmly into negative territory.

Airline stocks are seeing significant weakness in mid-afternoon trading, extending the pullback seen over the past few sessions. The NYSE Arca Airline Index is down by 1.9 percent, pulling back further off last Wednesday's eleven-year closing high.

JetBlue (JBLU) and Alaska Air (ALK) are turning in two of the airline sector's worst performances, falling by 3.2 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.

Considerable weakness is also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 loss being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Vulcan Materials (VMC) and Lennar (LEN) are posting steep losses.

Defensive stocks have also come under pressure on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Defense Sector Index down by 1.5 percent. The index is pulling back further off the record closing high set last Wednesday.

Oil service, railroad, and retail stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while gold stocks are bucking the downtrend amid a sharp jump by the price of gold.

The major averages have edged up off their lows for the session in the past few minutes but remain in the red. The Dow is down 98.64 points or 0.6 percent at 15,815.98, the Nasdaq is down 25.51 points or 0.6 percent at 4,011.69 and the S&P 500 is down 13.10 points or 0.7 percent at 1,782.05.