Major Averages Remain In The Red In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session mostly lower, stocks are seeing some further downside during trading on Thursday. Disappointing retail sales data is weighing on the markets along with news of Islamic militants seizing control of significant parts of Iraq.

Airline stocks are once again seeing substantial weakness after helping to lead the markets lower on Wednesday. The NYSE Arca Airline Index has tumbled by 2.9 percent, pulling back further off last Friday's twelve-year closing high.

The continued weakness in the oil-sensitive airline sector is partly due to a jump by the price of crude oil in response to news out of Iraq.

Steel stocks have also moved notably lower over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 1.6 percent. Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) and AK Steel (AKS) are turning in two of the sector's worst performances.

Railroad, retail, and defense stocks are also seeing some weakness in mid-day trading, while gold stocks are once again bucking the downtrend amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

Currently, the major averages are posting moderate losses, off their worst levels of the day. The Dow is down 56.38 points or 0.3 percent at 16,787.50, the Nasdaq is down 13.09 points or 0.3 percent at 4,318.85 and the S&P 500 is down 6.63 points or 0.3 percent at 1,937.26.