Major Averages Remain Firmly Negative In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - Extending the steep drop seen over the past few sessions, stocks have moved sharply lower during trading on Friday. With the substantial losses on the day, all three major averages have fallen to new multi-month intraday lows.

While most of the major sectors have moved notably lower on the day, airline stocks have shown a particularly steep drop. The NYSE Arca Airline Index has plunged by 2.7 percent to its lowest intraday level in nearly ten months.

Avianca Holdings (AH) has helped to lead the airline sector lower, with the air transportation services provider currently down by 10.5 percent.

Energy stocks are also seeing substantial weakness in mid-day trading, resulting in a 2.1 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index. With the drop, the index has fallen to a three-year low.

The weakness among energy stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil, with crude for October delivery tumbling $1.20 to $40.12 a barrel.

Software, retail, trucking, and steel stocks are also seeing considerable weakness on the day, while some electronic storage stocks are bucking the downtrend.

In recent trading, the major averages have climbed off their worst levels of the day, but they remain firmly in the red. The Dow is down 226.19 points or 1.3 percent at 16,764.50, the Nasdaq is down 72.87 points or 1.5 percent at 4,804.62 and the S&P 500 is down 27.48 points or 1.4 percent at 2,008.25.